What is Nano Banana 2?
Nano Banana 2 is Google's name for Gemini 3.1 Flash Image, the model behind image creation in the Gemini app, AI Mode and Lens in Search, Google Ads and the Gemini API. It reads text, images, video and PDFs, makes images from 512px to 4K, can look up Google web and image search results, and can think before it draws. Its knowledge stops at January 2025.
Google built it as the faster, cheaper sibling of Nano Banana Pro, which it still recommends for high-fidelity work at twice the price per image. Nano Banana 2 replaced Pro as the Gemini app's default and succeeds the original Nano Banana, which Google has deprecated.
What changed from the original Nano Banana?
More sizes, search and thinking for a higher base price, and the original is on its way out.
- Status
- Google has deprecated the original Nano Banana (gemini-2.5-flash-image) and tells developers to move to Nano Banana 2 or Nano Banana 2 Lite.
- Price
- $0.067 per 1K image against the original's $0.039, but a new 512px size costs $0.045.
- Sizes
- Output from 512px to 4K in 14 aspect ratios, where the original's price covers images up to 1024x1024.
- Search and thinking
- It can ground images in Google web and image search, and think at a minimal or high level before drawing.
Who is Nano Banana 2 best for?
Nano Banana 2 is best for marketers, designers and developers who need fast, low-cost images with readable text, consistent characters and sizes from 512px to 4K.
Mockups with text
It writes legible text into images and can translate that text for another market.
Storyboards and recurring characters
It keeps up to four characters and 10 objects looking the same across a series, from up to 14 reference images.
Social posts and ads in many sizes
Output runs from 512px to 4K, with extra-tall and extra-wide ratios such as 1:4, 4:1, 1:8 and 8:1.
Infographics and diagrams
It can pull in Google web and image search results to draw real subjects, charts and diagrams more accurately.
What's included with Nano Banana 2?
Google Search grounding, two thinking levels, up to 14 reference images, images from video, editing in conversation, and a SynthID watermark on every image.
- Search grounding
- Draws on Google web and image search results; 5,000 grounded requests a month are free, then $14 per 1,000.
- Thinking levels
- Minimal by default or high for complex prompts, and the draft images it makes while thinking are not billed.
- Up to 14 reference images
- Mix up to 10 object images and 4 character images into one result.
- Video to image
- Pass a video file or YouTube link to make thumbnails, posters or summary infographics from it.
- Editing in conversation
- Refine an image over several turns in plain language instead of starting again.
- SynthID watermark
- Every image it makes carries an invisible SynthID watermark.
How much does Nano Banana 2 cost?
Nano Banana 2 is free to use in the Gemini app within usage limits, and on the Gemini API it costs $0.067 per 1K image, from $0.045 at 0.5K to $0.151 at 4K, with Batch at half price.
- Pick Create images in the Fast, Thinking or Pro model
- Paid Google AI plans can redo an image with Nano Banana Pro
- 18 and over
- $0.022 at 0.5K, $0.050 at 2K, $0.076 at 4K
- $0.25 per million input tokens
- Half the Standard rate, for jobs that can wait
- $0.045 at 0.5K, $0.101 at 2K, $0.151 at 4K
- $0.50 per million input tokens, $3 per million text and thinking tokens
- Image output billed at $60 per million tokens
Nano Banana 2 is Google's name for Gemini 3.1 Flash Image (model code gemini-3.1-flash-image), a closed model with no downloadable weights. The Gemini API has no free tier for it, and paid API prompts are not used to improve Google's products. Grounding with Google web and image search gives 5,000 free requests a month, shared with other Gemini 3 models, then $14 per 1,000. Gemini app limits refresh every five hours up to a weekly cap. It is also on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform (Vertex AI), in AI Mode and Lens in Google Search, in Google Flow and in Google Ads. The cheaper Nano Banana 2 Lite costs $0.0336 per 1K image, and Nano Banana Pro $0.134 per 1K or 2K image. Full pricing on ai.google.dev. We checked these prices on .
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Nano Banana 2 pros and cons
It is cheap, quick and good with text, but edits can drift, its filters are strict, and Nano Banana Pro still wins on hard prompts.
Pros
- Half the price of Nano Banana Pro per image, $0.067 against $0.134 at 1K, with a cheaper 512px size and 4K at $0.151.
- Users say text in images no longer comes out garbled, including small print that other models misread, and objects stay consistent across images.
- Scores above Nano Banana Pro and GPT-Image 1.5 on overall preference and visual quality in Google's own GenAI-Bench human tests.
- Free for everyone in the Gemini app, where it makes every image by default.
Cons
- Edits can drift: several users say it changes the product or the rest of the picture even when told to keep it exactly as it is.
- Strict filters: users report it refusing to edit ordinary photos of themselves as look-alike public figures, and Search grounding cannot use real photos of people.
- Many testers find it behind Nano Banana Pro on image quality and hard prompts, and in the Gemini app Pro is now only a Redo with Pro option on paid plans.
- No free tier on the Gemini API, and its knowledge stops at January 2025, so recent subjects need Search grounding.
What are the best Nano Banana 2 alternatives?
Nano Banana Pro for the hardest prompts, Nano Banana 2 Lite for the cheapest 1K images, and ChatGPT Images 2.5 for precise photo edits.
Nano Banana ProFreeChoose it when quality on hard prompts matters more than cost; it also takes up to 3 style reference images, at $0.134 per 1K or 2K image and $0.24 at 4K.
Nano Banana 2 LiteFreeChoose it when 1K images are enough and price comes first; it costs $0.0336 per image, half as much, but has no Search grounding and no other sizes.
ChatGPT Images 2.5FreeChoose it when precise edits to existing photos matter most; OpenAI's Sunburst model is built for editing precision, at $8 / $30 per million image input / output tokens.
Articles about Nano Banana 2
One of our articles names Nano Banana 2 the best for a job.
Questions about Nano Banana 2
What is the difference between Nano Banana 2 and Nano Banana Pro?
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) is the faster, cheaper model: $0.067 per 1K image on the Gemini API, against $0.134 for Nano Banana Pro. Google points to Pro for work that needs the highest fidelity and factual accuracy, and paid Gemini app plans can redo an image with Pro.
Who is Nano Banana 2 for?
Nano Banana 2 is best for marketers, designers and developers who need fast, low-cost images with readable text, consistent characters and sizes from 512px to 4K.
Is Nano Banana 2 free?
Yes, in the Gemini app: anyone 18 or older can make images with it, within usage limits that refresh every five hours up to a weekly cap. The Gemini API has no free tier for it; you pay from $0.045 per image, or $0.022 with the Batch API.
How much does Nano Banana 2 cost?
Nano Banana 2's paid plans are Gemini API, Batch at $0.034 per 1K image and Gemini API, Standard at $0.067 per 1K image.
What are the best Nano Banana 2 alternatives?
The closest alternatives on Recaply are Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2 Lite and ChatGPT Images 2.5.
Where can I try Nano Banana 2?
On its official website, blog.google.
Is Nano Banana 2 the same as Gemini 3.1 Flash Image?
Yes. Nano Banana 2 is Google's nickname for Gemini 3.1 Flash Image, and its API model ID is gemini-3.1-flash-image. The earlier preview ID has been shut down, so code that used it should switch to the stable ID.
Are Nano Banana 2 images watermarked?
Yes. Every image it makes carries an invisible SynthID watermark that marks it as made with Google AI, and you can upload an image to the Gemini app to check for it. The watermark does not change how the image looks.
Our verdict
Nano Banana 2 is the Google image model to start with: cheap, quick and strong on text.
It costs half as much as Nano Banana Pro per image, is free in the Gemini app, and Google's own tests put it above Pro on overall preference and close behind on most edits.
- Skip it for
- Precise product edits or photos of real people, where users say it drifts or refuses.
- Check first
- Test your hardest prompts against Nano Banana Pro before you build a pipeline on it.
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