Models · Pricing
Nano Banana 2.1 Pricing and Free Access: What Each Image Costs
Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1), Google's image model released on October 6, 2026, costs $0.0336 per 1K image, $0.0504 per 2K image and $0.113 per 4K image on the paid Gemini API, and half that in batch mode. The API has no free tier for it, and Google's Gemini page says 2.1 in the Gemini app needs a Google AI plan.
Nano Banana 2.1 is also written "Nano Banana 2.1", "NB 2.1" or by its API name gemini-nano-banana-2.1. It is an update to Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image), not a separate product line. Below: the full price table, a worked cost example, the free routes Google documents, and where Ciyo, an AI design workspace with a conversational design agent and an infinite canvas for creating and editing images and videos, fits.
How much does Nano Banana 2.1 cost per image?
On the Gemini API, a Nano Banana 2.1 image costs $0.0336 at 1K, $0.0504 at 2K and $0.113 at 4K at standard rates. Google bills image output at $30 per 1 million tokens; a 1K image uses 1,120 tokens, a 2K image 1,680 and a 4K image 3,780 (exactly $0.1134, which Google's page rounds to $0.113). Batch mode is $15 per million, which makes a 1K image $0.0168.
Image output is not the only line on the bill. Nano Banana 2.1 charges $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million tokens for text and thinking output. Google also notes that thinking tokens are billed by default for thinking models.
| Model (API ID) | 1K image | 2K image | 4K image | Input per 1M tokens | Reference images |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1) | $0.0336 | $0.0504 | $0.113 | $1.50 | Up to 14 (10 objects + 4 characters) |
| Nano Banana 2 (gemini-3.1-flash-image) | $0.067 | $0.101 | $0.151 | $0.50 | Up to 14 (10 objects + 4 characters) |
| Nano Banana 2 Lite (gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image) | $0.0336 | Not supported | Not supported | $0.25 | Up to 14 objects |
| Nano Banana Pro (gemini-3-pro-image) | $0.134 | $0.134 | $0.24 | $2.00 | 6 objects + 5 characters + 3 style |
What does a real job cost?
A single 1K image from a short prompt costs about $0.035, and 100 images cost about $3.36 at 1K, $5.04 at 2K and $11.34 at 4K. The arithmetic below is ours, based on Google's published rates. It leaves out thinking tokens, which Google bills but whose count for a given prompt is not published.
Batch mode trades speed for price. Google's image guide says batch jobs can take up to 24 hours. For a campaign of 100 variations that can wait overnight, batch halves the output cost.
| Job | 1K | 2K | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 image, 1,000-token prompt (input $0.0015 + image) | $0.0351 | $0.0519 | $0.1149 |
| 100 images, standard | $3.36 | $5.04 | $11.34 |
| 100 images, batch | $1.68 | $2.52 | $5.67 |
Is Nano Banana 2.1 free?
Not through the API. Google's pricing page shows the free tier as "Not available" for Nano Banana 2.1, so every API image is billed. The free options Google documents sit elsewhere.
Gemini app: Google's Gemini image page says Nano Banana is "Available for free" and that you can "upgrade to a Google AI Plan to unlock Nano Banana 2.1". Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra users have access to 2.1. Free use has compute-based limits that refresh every five hours up to a weekly cap, per Google's Gemini Apps Help.
Google AI Studio: Google's pricing notes say AI Studio usage is free of charge in all available regions. Google's pages do not say whether Nano Banana 2.1 image generation is covered, so check the model picker before you plan around it.
AI Mode in Google Search: Google's model card lists AI Mode as a distribution channel. We could not confirm country, language or limits for 2.1 there, so treat it as unverified.
How many reference images does Nano Banana 2.1 accept?
Nano Banana 2.1 accepts up to 14 reference images in one request. Google's guide splits them into up to 10 images of objects for high fidelity and up to 4 images of characters for character consistency. Nano Banana Pro takes fewer objects (6) but allows 5 characters and 3 style references, so the 14 are not interchangeable between models.
For a series or a brand, the character limit matters more than the headline 14. A request with five recurring characters does not fit Nano Banana 2.1's four-character slot.
What changed from Nano Banana 2?
The image got cheaper and everything around it got more expensive. Image output fell from $60 to $30 per million tokens, so a 1K image dropped from $0.067 to $0.0336. Input rose from $0.50 to $1.50 per million tokens, and text and thinking output rose from $3 to $7.50.
Google also lists a fix for tiling artifacts on wide and panoramic ratios (1:4, 4:1, 1:8, 8:1) at 2K and 4K, and a Google Search and Image Search grounding option. Search grounding includes 5,000 free requests per month shared across Gemini 3 and newer models, then $14 per 1,000 requests.
| Change | Nano Banana 2 | Nano Banana 2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| 1K image | $0.067 | $0.0336 |
| 4K image | $0.151 | $0.113 |
| Input per 1M tokens | $0.50 | $1.50 |
| 512px output | Supported | Not supported |
| Thinking levels (default) | minimal, high (minimal) | minimal, medium, high (medium) |
| Status | Deprecated, no shutdown date announced | Current, generally available since October 6, 2026 |
Where does Ciyo fit?
Ciyo lets you try image models on one canvas and pay per image, but as of November 1, 2026 its pricing page lists Nano Banana 2, Nano Banana Pro and the original Nano Banana, not Nano Banana 2.1. Ciyo's pricing is pay as you go: $10 buys 1,000 credits, one credit is one US cent, and there is no subscription.
Ciyo lists Nano Banana 2 at 5 to 12 credits per image (1K to 4K) and Nano Banana Pro at 12 to 15, with GPT Image models alongside. Those are Ciyo's own per-image prices, so they are not comparable with Google's per-token API rates. The pricing page shows the exact credits before each run and any model changes.
If you want to judge image models before committing a budget, the AI Image Generator puts several models side by side on the infinite canvas, and our image-model comparison on one product brief shows how to run that check. The AI design agent can plan the brief with you first. Ciyo's agent planning can consume credits separately from image generation.
- pricing page
- AI Image Generator
- infinite canvas
- image-model comparison on one product brief
- AI design agent
- Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 model page
- Gemini Developer API pricing
- Nano Banana image generation guide
- Gemini API changelog
- deprecations
- Nano Banana 2.1 model card
- Gemini image generation page
- Gemini Apps limits
- Ciyo pricing
- Ciyo
FAQ
Is Nano Banana 2.1 free to use?
The Gemini API has no free tier for it. In the Gemini app, Google says Nano Banana is free and that Nano Banana 2.1 comes with a Google AI plan. Free Google AI Studio use is documented generally, but Google does not say it covers 2.1 images.
How much does a Nano Banana 2.1 image cost?
$0.0336 for a 1K image, $0.0504 for 2K and $0.113 for 4K at standard Gemini API rates. Batch mode halves those to $0.0168, $0.0252 and $0.0567, and prompt input is billed separately at $1.50 per million tokens.
How many reference images can I use?
Up to 14 in one request: up to 10 object images and up to 4 character images.
Is Nano Banana 2.1 cheaper than Nano Banana 2?
Per image, yes: $0.0336 versus $0.067 at 1K. Per input token, no: $1.50 versus $0.50 per million. For short prompts the image dominates the bill, so the total is lower.
Is Nano Banana 2 being shut down?
Google marks Nano Banana 2 (gemini-3.1-flash-image) as deprecated and tells developers to migrate to Nano Banana 2.1, but its deprecations page lists no shutdown date as of November 1, 2026. Some third-party articles quote an October 29 shutdown, which Google's page does not show.
Are Nano Banana 2.1 images watermarked?
Google says all generated images include a SynthID watermark.
Continue in Ciyo
Try the image models side by side on one board in Ciyo and see each image's credit cost before you run it.