ChatGPT vs Grok: Which AI chatbot is best for creating free Ghibli-style AI portraits?

AI-based image generators have been around for at least a couple of years, with free options available from most companies. However, the craze for text-to-image generators has gone to another level since the introduction of ChatGPT's native image generation capabilities, which subsequently led to the viral Studio Ghibli-style image trend.

While ChatGPT's new image feature was for the longest time limited to paid members, Grok 3's image generation capabilities came to the fore as users widely used xAI's chatbot to Ghiblify their images.

However, as OpenAI has also launched its native image generation feature for free users, let's take a look at which AI chatbot offers a superior experience.

Grok 3 vs GPT-4o: Which one is better for Ghibli-style AI images?

We tried creating 'Ghiblified' images with both Grok AI and ChatGPT, using the same prompt, to see which chatbot performed better.

Grok AI seems to get the context of the images right, but tends to get the details wrong. Meanwhile, GPT-4o's conversion of real-life images into Studio Ghibli-style aesthetics is pretty decent, but there is currently an image processing limit (3 per day) for free users, which makes it difficult to convert many images.

What is Grok AI?

Grok is a term that has its origins in the science fiction novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land." In the novel, it means to ‘fully and profoundly understand something.’ xAI launched the Grok chatbot in 2023 following the sudden rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The company had launched its Grok 2 model last year with support for features like real-time web search and image generation.

Amid rising competition in the AI space, xAI launched its latest large language model Grok 3 last month, taking on the likes of ChatGPT and Gemini. Earlier this month, Elon Musk also announced that the chatbot is also getting image editing feature, apart from the text to image generation abilities that it already possesses.

What is Studio Ghibli?

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio founded in 1985 by Miyazaki Hayao, Takahata Isao and Suzuki Toshio. The company is known for its high-quality filmmaking with hand-drawn animation and rich storytelling.

Some of the company's most notable animated films include Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke.

The studio's films are celebrated for their dreamlike landscapes, soft colour palettes, and deeply human storytelling. The labour-intensive, hand-drawn approach of Ghibli animators has long been considered the gold standard in traditional animation.