If you're building an image feature that generates thousands (or millions) of outputs, unit economics matter more than "cool demos." That's where ZImage Turbo becomes practical: an ultra-fast text-to-image generation model with exceptional quality, designed for fast inference and strong bilingual text rendering. EvoLink.ai exposes ZImage Turbo through a production-friendly API with asynchronous tasks and webhook callbacks.
This guide is intentionally objective and implementation-first. You'll learn:
- What ZImage Turbo is and its key capabilities
- How EvoLink's ZImage endpoint works (async tasks + webhook rules)
- How to integrate ZImage Turbo with cost control and operational guardrails
- When ZImage is the right default—and when it isn't
1. What Is ZImage Turbo
ZImage Turbo (Z-Image Turbo) is an ultra-fast text-to-image generation model optimized for production workloads. According to EvoLink's documentation, ZImage Turbo excels in:
- Photorealistic image generation with high visual fidelity
- Bilingual text rendering (English & Chinese) directly in generated images
- Fast inference speed suitable for high-volume production
- Instruction adherence for consistent, predictable outputs
Why this matters for developers: ZImage Turbo's efficiency makes it cost-effective for batch processing and variant generation workflows, where you need many images quickly without breaking the budget.
 |  |
|---|---|
| ZImage Turbo visual quality example A | ZImage Turbo visual quality example B |
2. ZImage Pricing Context: Compare Against Published Tables
To keep ZImage pricing claims defensible, anchor them to public references:
- EvoLink's model catalog lists ZImage Turbo "starting from" $0.0036 per image and shows a "market" reference of $0.0050.
- EvoLink also calls out ~$0.0036/image pricing in its changelog entry for ZImage Turbo.
- fal.ai's pricing page shows several widely used hosted image models around $0.03–$0.04 per image (model-specific).
- fal.ai also lists Z-Image Turbo pricing at $0.005/megapixel (useful as a market reference for ZImage itself).
Cost comparison table (transparent assumptions)
Assumption: "10k images" means 10,000 generated outputs at ~1MP each (e.g., 1024×1024 ≈ 1MP). Always confirm billing rules for your exact plan and output sizes.
| Provider / Model | Billing Unit | Reference Price | Cost per 10k images | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EvoLink ZImage Turbo | image | $0.0036 | $36 | "Starting from" in EvoLink catalog |
| Z-Image Turbo (fal.ai) | MP | ~$0.005/MP | ~$50 | ZImage market reference |
| Seedream V4 (fal.ai) | image | ~$0.03 | ~$300 | premium baseline reference |
| Flux Kontext Pro (fal.ai) | image | ~$0.04 | ~$400 | premium baseline reference |
Takeaway: If your product needs many variants, ZImage's lower per-image price can make experimentation cheap enough to be a default workflow—not an occasional luxury.
3. How EvoLink's ZImage Turbo API Works (Async by Design)
EvoLink's ZImage Turbo endpoint uses asynchronous processing:
- You submit a ZImage generation request to
POST /v1/images/generations - You receive a task ID immediately
- You query the task status via
GET /v1/tasks/{task_id}(or use a webhook callback)
EvoLink also notes that generated image links are valid for 24 hours, so your production workflow should persist results promptly.
4. ZImage Turbo Quickstart (Copy/Paste)
4.1 Create a ZImage generation task
Endpoint:
POST https://api.evolink.ai/v1/images/generationsMinimal request (cURL):
curl --request POST \
--url https://api.evolink.ai/v1/images/generations \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '
{
"model": "z-image-turbo",
"prompt": "A clean product hero shot, studio lighting, soft shadow, minimal background, no watermark",
"size": "1:1"
}
'Response example:
{
"id": "task_abc123",
"status": "pending",
"model": "z-image-turbo",
"progress": 0,
"created": 1735100000,
"task_info": {
"can_cancel": true,
"estimated_time": 10
},
"usage": {
"credits_reserved": 1
}
}4.2 Query your ZImage task status
curl --request GET \
--url https://api.evolink.ai/v1/tasks/{task_id} \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>'5. ZImage Turbo Parameters
- prompt: Required, max 2000 characters.
- size: Supports ratios (
1:1,16:9, etc.) or custom dimensions (376x376to1536x1536). - seed: Integer (1 - 2147483647) for reproducibility.
- callback_url: HTTPS URL for async notification.
6. ZImage Webhooks: Callback Rules
If you're running ZImage in batch mode, use
callback_url to avoid heavy polling.| Efficient task monitoring via callbacks | High-concurrency ZImage workflow |
- HTTPS only: No internal IPs allowed.
- Retries: Max 3 retries (1s, 2s, 4s).
- Format: Callback body matches the Task Query API response.
7. Production Patterns for ZImage
- Pattern A: Variant Selection: Generate 4–8 candidates cheaply and pick the winner.
- Pattern B: Early Persistence: Store outputs in your S3/OSS immediately (URLs expire in 24h).
- Pattern C: Worker Queue: Use a decoupled worker to handle status polling or webhooks.
8. ZImage Prompt Templates
Template: Bilingual Poster Draft
Prompt: A clean retail poster layout with clear bilingual typography. Big title: "Winter Sale" and "冬季大促". Subtitle: "Up to 50% off" and "最高立减50%". Modern grid layout, high contrast, sans-serif.
9. Decision Matrix
| Requirement | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Lowest cost per image | ZImage Turbo |
| High-volume variants | ZImage Turbo |
| Bilingual text-in-image | ZImage Turbo |
| Ultra-Premium aesthetics | Specialized Art Models |
10. FAQ
- Architecture: 6B model, S3-DiT architecture, 8 NFEs for Turbo.
- Retention: Links valid for 24 hours.
- Pricing: Starts from $0.0036 on EvoLink.ai.
Conclusion
ZImage Turbo is a unit-economics lever. By combining S3-DiT efficiency with an async API, it allows you to scale image generation without linear cost growth.
Next step: Integrate via
POST /v1/images/generations and set up your callback_url for production scale.
