Nano Banana

0:00 Nano Banana is Google's nickname for the image models built into Gemini, used to create images from text and, above all, to edit photos by describing the change; the latest is Nano Banana 2.1, published by Google DeepMind on Oct 6, 2026, and image generation is included on every Gemini plan, the free one too, while the API charges $0.0336 per 1K image (as of Nov 6, 2026). At its Aug 2025 launch Google called the first one the top-rated image editing model on LMArena's board. Its best-known strength is keeping a person, pet or product looking the same across many edits.

5:50 Use it when you want to edit a real photo by asking (change the outfit, the background, the season), merge several photos into one, or make images inside Gemini, Google Search or Google Flow at no extra cost. On the Arena boards OpenAI's GPT Image models ranked above it in Nov 2026, Midjourney has the more distinctive artistic look, and Google itself says small text is a weak point, where Ideogram is built for typography. Google's other image model line is Imagen. More in Best AI Image Generator.

Quick facts

Versions

Sources: Nano Banana launch, Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2, Nano Banana 2.1 model card, Gemini API pricing, read Nov 6, 2026.

Prices and limits

In the Gemini app. "Image generation with Nano Banana 2" is listed on every tier, from no plan to Ultra, on Google's Gemini limits page. Google gives no image count: free accounts get "standard limits", AI Plus twice that, AI Pro four times, and Ultra 5 or 20 times Pro, and it warns that images use more of the allowance than text. Redoing an image with Nano Banana Pro is for paying plans. Plan prices are on Gemini and AI Subscription Prices.

In the API. Per image, at standard rates as of Nov 6, 2026 (Google AI Studio pricing):

Batch requests cost half for Nano Banana 2.1. The API has no free tier for these models.

Features

9:46 Editing that keeps the subject. The first Nano Banana was built to keep a person's or pet's likeness the same through outfit changes, new backgrounds, blended photos and multi-step edits, and that is still what most people use it for. Nano Banana 2 can keep up to five characters and 14 objects consistent in one workflow.

1:08 World knowledge and text. Since Nano Banana 2, the model can draw on Gemini's knowledge and web search to get specific subjects right, and it can render, translate and localize text inside an image, which helps with infographics and diagrams.

7:02 Mask and doodle editing. Nano Banana 2.1 improves editing a marked area. Its model card is frank about the limits: small text and long paragraphs often render poorly, character consistency is imperfect, left and right are sometimes swapped, and the subject's pose can carry over into an edit. In an Oct 2026 video, Youri van Hofwegen found that 2.1 changed more of a photo than he asked for, and he kept Nano Banana 2 or Pro as the safer pick for edits where nothing else may change.

Provenance. Images made or edited in the Gemini app carry a visible watermark and Google's invisible SynthID mark, and since Nano Banana 2 Google pairs SynthID with C2PA Content Credentials.

Nano Banana vs the alternatives

On the Arena leaderboards (updated Nov 2, 2026, read Nov 6), where voters pick between two images blind, Nano Banana 2.1 scored 1325 for text-to-image, seventh and Google's best, behind five OpenAI GPT Image entries and Microsoft's MAI-Image-2.6; on image editing it was eighth with 1427.

• GPT Image: ranked higher on both Arena boards and lives in ChatGPT; Nano Banana's API is cheaper per 1K image.
• Midjourney: a stronger house style and Personalization, but paid only.
• Seedream: ByteDance's model, also strong at multi-image editing.
• Adobe Firefly: Adobe's app also offers Google's models alongside its own, inside Photoshop and Express.
• Flux: open-weight Kontext and Flux 2 models for editing on your own hardware.

Frequently asked questions

Is Nano Banana free? Yes, Nano Banana image generation is included in the free Gemini app with standard limits that Google does not state as a number; paid Google AI plans raise the limit, and the Gemini API charges per image with no free tier.

What is the latest Nano Banana? The latest is Nano Banana 2.1 (API ID gemini-nano-banana-2.1), published by Google DeepMind on Oct 6, 2026 and built on Gemini 3.6 Flash.

What is the difference between Nano Banana Pro and Nano Banana 2? Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image, Nov 2025) is the larger, slower model; Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image, Feb 2026) brought its abilities to Flash speed and replaced it as the Gemini app's default.

Is Nano Banana the same as Gemini? Nano Banana is the image model inside Gemini: Gemini is Google's assistant and model family, and Nano Banana is the name Google uses for its Gemini image models (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, Gemini 3 Pro Image, Gemini 3.1 Flash Image and later).

Can you tell if an image was made with Nano Banana? Images from the Gemini app carry a visible watermark and an invisible SynthID watermark, and Gemini can check an image for SynthID.

Sources

• Nano Banana: Image editing in Google Gemini gets a major upgrade, Google, Aug 26, 2025
• Nano Banana Pro: Gemini 3 Pro Image model from Google DeepMind, Google, Nov 20, 2025
• Nano Banana 2: Google's latest AI image generation model, Google, Feb 26, 2026
• Nano Banana 2.1 model card, Google DeepMind, Oct 6, 2026
• Gemini API pricing, Google, read Nov 6, 2026
• Gemini Apps limits and upgrades, Google, read Nov 6, 2026
• Text-to-Image and Image Edit leaderboards, Arena, read Nov 6, 2026
• What is Nano Banana?, Google, Jun 30, 2026 (video)
• Nano Banana 2.1 Is FINALLY Here (I Tested Everything), Youri van Hofwegen, Oct 6, 2026 (video)