Nano Banana 2.1 halves Google's price for 1K images

Google released Nano Banana 2.1 on October 6, 2026, at half the API price of Nano Banana 2 for a 1K image. The Nano Banana 2.1 model card says the new image generation and editing model is built on Gemini 3.6 Flash.

Google's developer docs call it the more efficient counterpart to Nano Banana Pro. The Decoder noted that Pro often still makes noticeably better images in practice, even where 2.1 wins Google's benchmarks.

Images cost less, but text and thinking tokens cost more

Image output costs $30 per million tokens, half Nano Banana 2's rate. That works out to $0.0336 per 1K image, $0.0504 at 2K and $0.113 at 4K, against $0.067, $0.101 and $0.151 for Nano Banana 2. Nano Banana Pro charges $0.134 per 1K image.

Other tokens went the other way. Input costs $1.50 per million tokens, up from $0.50, and text and thinking output costs $7.50, up from $3. The model has no free tier in the API.

Google's tests and Arena's voters both rank it above Pro

In Google's side-by-side preference tests, Nano Banana 2.1 scored 1050 Elo with thinking on, against 990 for Nano Banana 2 and 935 for Pro. Its widest lead over Pro came on infographic design, 1048 to 912.

Those are Google's own numbers. On Arena's text-to-image leaderboard, built from 6.6 million public votes, it ranked sixth with a preliminary score of 1328. That puts it above Nano Banana 2 and Pro, but behind five rivals led by three OpenAI image models.

Small text and prompt following are still weak spots

The model card lists known limits. Small text can be blurry, especially at 1K resolution, and long paragraphs render poorly. Characters don't always stay consistent, and the model sometimes mixes up left and right.

The r/singularity launch thread drew 51 comments. Recaply read 30 of them on October 11, a snapshot rather than a survey.

Three said 2.1 is better than Nano Banana 2, while about five doubted Google's benchmarks or said it follows prompts poorly. About a dozen turned into a side debate over local image models.

Still not as good as the latest GPT image models but decent upgrade over NB2 IMO.

A Reddit user on r/singularity, October 6

Nano Banana 2.1 is rolling out in the Gemini app, AI Mode in Search, Google AI Studio, the Gemini API, Google Ads, Flow and Stitch. In the app it needs a Google AI Pro, Plus or Ultra plan. In the API it's gemini-nano-banana-2.1, which Google lists as Nano Banana 2's replacement.