Google's image model Nano Banana 2.1 is out and reportedly cheaper

According to two sources, Google made the image model Nano Banana 2.1 generally available on October 6, 2026. It is an update to Nano Banana 2, also known as Gemini 3.1 Flash Image, and developers can use it via Google Cloud.

The model accepts text, images, video and PDFs as input and returns images and text. Images can be generated in three sizes: 1K (standard), 2K and 4K. These are levels of resolution, with 4K being the sharpest.

What does it cost?

The prices come from third-party sites, Apidog and OrcaRouter, and have not been confirmed by Google. The two sources do agree, however.

The standard price per image is USD 0.0336 at 1K, USD 0.0504 at 2K and USD 0.0756 at 4K. With batch processing, where many images are ordered together, the price is cut in half. Here a 1K image costs USD 0.0168. Input tokens, meaning the chunks of text the model reads, cost USD 1.50 per million.

According to Apidog's guide, the model costs half as much as Nano Banana 2 at the most common resolutions. According to third-party sources, Nano Banana 2 costs about USD 0.067 at 1K.

New capabilities and requirements

The model can use up to 14 reference images: up to 10 objects and up to 4 characters, which it must keep consistent. It can search Google's web and image search, and users can adjust how much it should think. Medium is the default.

According to OrcaRouter, the update fixes errors where patterns repeat in very narrow or wide formats such as 1:4, 4:1, 1:8 and 8:1. All images receive a SynthID watermark.

The API requires a paid Google Cloud project with billing enabled. According to Apidog, the free tier is not available for the model. The parameters seed, topK, logprobs, temperature and topP are not supported and return an error if used.

Deadline for the old model

OrcaRouter states that Nano Banana 2 shuts down on October 29, 2026, so users must switch before then. This comes from only one source and has not been confirmed.

There is as yet no independent test of Nano Banana 2.1, and the model is not included in Artificial Analysis' image arena. Improvements in quality and in how well the model follows instructions have therefore not been independently confirmed.