Z-Image Base

Z-Image Base is a hosted interface to Tongyi-MAI's 6 billion parameter, non-distilled image model, with text only and reference guided generation, adjustable strength, bilingual text rendering and one time credit pricing.

Z-Image Base is a generative image model from Tongyi-MAI (Alibaba), exposed through a browser based generator at zimagebase.io. The underlying model carries 6 billion parameters and pairs a diffusion transformer with U-ViT architecture and reasoning chains. The point of distinction the site makes is that it is non-distilled: rather than compressing a larger teacher into a small fast student, the model is offered at something closer to full capability, and the host positions that as the reason its output holds up on fine detail, lighting and texture. The tool works in two modes. Text only mode takes a prompt, an optional negative prompt, and width and height values, and returns a generated image. Reference mode adds an uploaded JPG or PNG (up to 10MB) that steers composition, style or subject, plus a strength parameter for dialling how tightly the output should track that reference. A built in prompt enhancer can rewrite a rough prompt before it is sent, which matters because the model is tuned for descriptive, logic heavy instructions. The site cites bilingual English and Chinese text rendering as a headline strength, alongside photorealism and cultural knowledge that helps with landmarks, characters and real world objects. Creators, marketers, social teams and small studios are the natural audience, particularly people producing poster style visuals with legible type or needing repeated assets from a single reference. It is a hosted web app, so nothing is installed locally, and the site mentions source code on GitHub for those who want the model itself. It also names film and gaming asset pipelines and educational material as intended uses. Against mid tier consumer generators, the differentiators are the reference guidance and the strength control rather than raw speed or a huge template library. Pricing is one time credit packs rather than a subscription, which suits occasional or project based production better than daily high volume work.