Nano Banana 2.1 API

Introduction

Nano Banana 2.1 Text to image is Google's newest Nano Banana model, released on 6 October 2026 as an update to Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image). Google improved visual quality, prompt adherence and text rendering, and says it fixed the tiling seams wide banners showed at 2K and 4K. It renders at 1k, 2k or 4k in fourteen shapes up to 8:1 and can search the web or reference pictures before drawing.

Choose a mode by starting material

Key features

Text that reads correctly

In our tests every line we put in quotes came out spelled as written: a magazine masthead and two cover lines, a film title and its release line, a neon motel sign. Small print we did not spell out, such as the fine lines under a film title, came back as filler.

Fourteen shapes, three sizes

From 1:8 story frames to 8:1 banners, at 1k, 2k or 4k. Our 8:1 banner at 2k came back 5856 pixels wide. Whether a wide frame comes back as one picture depends on the people in it: landscapes and crowds stayed in one piece in our runs, while people spread across the frame or close to the camera often came back as stitched shots.

Search before drawing

Web search pulls current facts such as dates, weather and events; image search pulls reference pictures of real places and products. Our forecast poster printed today's date with web search on and an invented date without it.

Request parameters

Pricing

Prices are in credits, the same credits you use on the website (1 credit = $0.01). The hold is taken when the task is accepted and settled to the actual charge when it finishes; failed tasks are refunded.

Each task is rounded up to whole credits, so one run at the lowest tier costs 8 credits per image ($0.08).

For an exact number before you run, send the same body to POST /jobs/quote.

Use cases

Covers and posters

Magazine covers, film posters and event flyers where the headline has to read correctly on the first try.

Website headers

Ultra-wide 4:1 and 8:1 headers of landscapes, harbours, skylines and crowds, checked for stitched panels before use. For people up close, render 21:9 at 4k and crop to 4:1. Tall 1:4 and 1:8 frames work when the subject itself is tall, such as a lighthouse, a skyscraper or a waterfall.

Pictures that depend on today

Forecast cards, schedules and event posters, with web search on so the details are current.

Prompt guide & pro tips

Quote the words, describe the type

Put each line of text in double quotes and say its style and place: tall serif capitals across the top, bold condensed sans serif at the bottom.

Keep people small in wide frames

For 4:1 and 8:1, let one setting fill the whole width, such as a ridge, a harbour or a crowd, and keep any people small and near the centre. People spread across the frame or close to the camera were the ones that came back as stitched shots; opening with "one continuous scene" did not prevent it.

Keep search for facts

Web search helps when the picture depends on something current or real. It does not improve style or composition, so leave it off otherwise.

Draft at 1k, deliver at 2k

Settle the composition at 1k, then run the same prompt at 2k; keep 4k for print and heavy crops.

API quick start

Call the Nano Banana 2.1 API in three steps

1. Create an API key. Sign in to PopNow and create a key in the API console. Keys start with sk-popnow- and use the same credits as the website.
2. Send the request. POST /jobs/createTask with model google/nano-banana-2.1/text-to-image and an input object that follows the parameter table. The response returns a task ID straight away.
3. Get the result. Poll GET /jobs/recordInfo with the task ID, or pass a callBackUrl and we post the result to it. Download the output links when the task succeeds.

# 1. Create the task. Keep the Idempotency-Key if you retry after a network error.
export IDEMPOTENCY_KEY="$(uuidgen)"
curl -X POST https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/createTask \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "google/nano-banana-2.1/text-to-image",
  "input": {
    "prompt": "A ceramic teapot on a linen cloth, soft window light, muted palette",
    "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
    "resolution": "1k",
    "output_format": "png"
  }
}'

# 2. Copy data.taskId from the response, then poll until state is succeeded, failed, canceled or expired.
TASK_ID="TASK_ID_FROM_RESPONSE"
curl "https://api.popnow.ai/api/v1/jobs/recordInfo?taskId=$TASK_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $POPNOW_API_KEY"

Replace the prompt and any links with your own. The API tab has the response, polling and callback reference.

Nano Banana 2.1 API questions

All Nano Banana models

Nano Banana Pro plans the layout before it draws, so it handles dense text, diagrams and multi-part designs more carefully. Nano Banana 2.1 is newer, quicker and less than half the price per image, and adds 8:1 banners plus web and image search.

• Nano Banana 2.1 APIGoogle's newest Nano Banana, sharp text and 4K outputFrom 8 credits per image
• Nano Banana Pro APIPlans the layout first: dense text, diagrams and 4K editsFrom 17 credits per image
• Nano Banana 2 APIFast Gemini images up to 4K, with up to 14 referencesFrom 6 credits per image

Other image APIs

• GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst APIOpenAI's quality-first model, up to 4K with clean textFrom 1 credit per image
• Seedream 5.0 Pro APIHigh-detail images and edits from up to ten referencesFrom 6 credits per image
• FLUX.2 Max APITop-tier FLUX: photoreal light and exact brand colorsFrom 11 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 Pro APIUp to six detailed 2K images from one promptFrom 6 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 Turbo APIFast 8-step renders, up to six per promptFrom 3 credits per image
• Qwen Image 2.1 APIOpen model with 2K output and transparent backgroundsFrom 4 credits per image

More about Nano Banana 2.1

Try it

Nano Banana 2.1 AI Image Generator onlineCreate images with Nano Banana 2.1 in PopNow

Compare

Nano Banana 2.1 vs GPT Image 2.5 SunburstNano Banana 2.1 vs Nano Banana ProSeedream 5.0 Pro vs Nano Banana 2.1

Docs

Nano Banana 2.1 model ID and input schema in the API docsPopNow API quickstart: your first request in five minutesImage generation guide for the PopNow APIWebhooks: get Nano Banana 2.1 results without polling