Nano Banana 2.1 halves Google's 1K image price to $0.0336 and adds 4K panoramic output

What Google released

Google DeepMind made Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 generally available on 6 October 2026, according to the Gemini API release notes. Google calls it its latest high-efficiency model for image generation and conversational editing. It is an update to Nano Banana 2, also known as Gemini 3.1 Flash Image. The same entry deprecates gemini-3.1-flash-image without a shutdown date and asks developers to migrate.

Google says the model keeps Flash-level speed and cost while improving visual quality, prompt adherence, character consistency across turns and text rendering. The model page adds fixed tiling artifacts on wide and tall images at 2K and 4K, better infographic layout, grounding with Google Web and Image Search, and three thinking levels: minimal, medium and high. It accepts up to 14 reference images, with consistency for up to 4 characters and fidelity for up to 10 objects.

What it costs compared with Nano Banana 2

The Gemini API pricing page bills image output at $30 per million tokens, half the $60 rate for Nano Banana 2. A 1K image uses 1,120 tokens, which Google prices at $0.0336. A 2K image costs $0.0504 and a 4K image $0.113. For Nano Banana 2 the same page lists $0.067, $0.101 and $0.151. The 1K and 2K prices are about half, and the 4K price is about a quarter lower.

Other rates went up. Input costs $1.50 per million tokens for text, image and video, compared with $0.50 for Nano Banana 2. Text and thinking output costs $7.50 per million tokens, up from $3. Batch requests are half the standard price. Prompts with many reference images will therefore see a smaller saving than the per-image figures suggest. The model is not on the free tier of the API.

What changed for developers

For API users the change is a new model string and a cheaper output price for most image sizes. The model page lists 131,072 input tokens and 32,768 output tokens, and inputs of text, image, video and PDF. Function calling, caching, code execution and structured outputs are not supported. The model page says it serves as the more efficient counterpart to Nano Banana Pro, which remains Google's higher-end image model.

What to watch next

Google did not publish benchmark scores or a launch blog post with the release notes. Availability in the Gemini app is not stated in the developer documentation. The shutdown date for Nano Banana 2 is also not announced. The model is listed on the AI model release tracker, and other image models are covered under AI Models.

Questions people ask

How much does Nano Banana 2.1 cost per image?

$0.0336 for a 1K image, $0.0504 for 2K and $0.113 for 4K at standard rates, per Google's pricing page. Batch requests cost half.

Is Nano Banana 2 being shut down?

Google deprecated gemini-3.1-flash-image on 6 October 2026 and asked developers to migrate to gemini-nano-banana-2.1. No shutdown date was announced.

How many reference images does Nano Banana 2.1 accept?

Up to 14, with character consistency for up to 4 characters and object fidelity for up to 10 objects, according to the model page.

Sources

1. Gemini API release notes: Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 generally available (Google AI for Developers, 6 Oct 2026)
2. Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 model page (Google AI for Developers, 6 Oct 2026)
3. Gemini Developer API pricing (Google AI for Developers, 6 Oct 2026)