How Much Is Nano Banana? Prices Per Image, Compared

Nano Banana costs nothing to use in Google's Gemini app, within the app's usage limits, and is paid per image everywhere else. Through Google's Gemini API, a standard 1K image costs $0.0336 with Nano Banana 2.1, $0.067 with Nano Banana 2 and $0.134 with Nano Banana Pro, and 4K images cost more (Google's pricing page, last updated October 19, 2026). On PopNow you pay per image in credits with no subscription: a 1K Nano Banana 2.1 image is 48 credits.

"Nano Banana" is the nickname for Google's Gemini image models, and there are now several of them, each priced differently. Below is what each one costs, where, and what you get for the money, with the same prompt run on all three on October 17, 2026.

Which Nano Banana is which

• Nano Banana was the first one, Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. Google's pricing page lists it as deprecated, with a shutdown date of October 2, 2026, and points to Nano Banana 2 or Nano Banana 2 Lite instead.
• Nano Banana 2 is Gemini 3.1 Flash Image. It's the only one with a small 0.5K size, handy for thumbnails and drafts.
• Nano Banana 2.1 is Google's update to Nano Banana 2, at 1K, 2K and 4K. It's the default image model on PopNow.
• Nano Banana 2 Lite is Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image, the newest and cheapest, built for speed. Google prices it per 1K image. It isn't on PopNow yet.
• Nano Banana Pro is Gemini 3 Pro Image, the most expensive of the family, aimed at complex layouts and lots of text.

Is Nano Banana free?

In the Gemini app, yes, up to a point. Google's Gemini help page (checked October 22, 2026) lists "Image generation with Nano Banana 2" for every plan, including no plan at all, and says media generation uses more of your allowance than chat. Google doesn't publish a fixed number of free images; paid Google AI plans raise the limits. See Google's plan comparison for the current details.

Through the API, no. The Gemini API pricing page marks the free tier as "Not available" for image output on all of these models.

Google's API price per image

Google bills image output by tokens and converts them to a price per image on its pricing page. These are Google's own figures for standard requests, plus batch requests, which run later at half price:

Source: Google's Gemini API pricing page, last updated October 19, 2026, checked October 22, 2026. Your text prompt and any images you send in are billed separately as input, which adds a small amount per request. Prices change; check Google's page before you budget.

What Nano Banana costs on PopNow

On PopNow every model has a fixed price per image in credits, shown on the Generate button before you start. There's no subscription and no monthly minimum. Editing a photo costs the same as making a new image.

The numbers in this table come from PopNow's model catalog when the page is rendered, so they match what the button shows. If a run ends up costing less than the button said, the difference goes back to your balance, and a failed image costs nothing.

Same prompt, three models

To see what the price difference buys, we ran one prompt at 1K and 4:3 on each model. It asks for exact wording on a sign, which is where image models most often slip:

Nano Banana 2 · 67 s

Nano Banana 2.1 · 31 s

Nano Banana Pro · 27 s

What we saw:

• All three spelled the sign correctly, dash included.
• Nano Banana 2 added text we didn't ask for: a shop name, "The Book Nook", over the window and a neon "Open" sign. It looks natural, but if you need control over every word on the image, that's a problem. It was also the slowest of the three in our run.
• Nano Banana 2.1 followed the prompt most literally: the sign in the window, the cat on a cushion, the string lights, nothing extra.
• Nano Banana Pro made the most cinematic picture, with the sign moved outside onto the sidewalk and rain streaking the glass. It interprets more, and it costs the most.

Which one should you pay for?

• Most people: Nano Banana 2.1. Strong text, follows instructions closely, and 1K is enough for social posts and phone screens. Go to 2K or 4K only when you'll print or crop.
• Thumbnails and quick previews: Nano Banana 2 at 0.5K. It's the only Nano Banana with a size that small.
• Posters, menus, infographics and anything with a lot of text: Nano Banana Pro. It's worth the extra when one image has to get many words and a complex layout right.

If you want to compare more than these three, the model library has every image model on PopNow with its price and examples, and our Nano Banana prompt guide shows how to get the most out of whichever one you pick.