Nano Banana 2.1 (Gemini Nano Banana 2.1)
GA on the Gemini API on 2026-10-06 (stable id only, no preview id). Also rolled out in the Gemini app, AI Mode in Search, Flow, Stitch, Google Ads and Gemini Enterprise (per The Decoder). It deprecates gemini-3.1-flash-image (no shutdown date yet). No caching, function calling or structured outputs. The Decoder quotes a $0.0756 4K price; the official pricing page says $0.113 (3,780 tokens), which is the figure used here.
- Context window
- 131,072 tokens
- Max output
- 32,768 tokens
- Knowledge cutoff
- 2026-03
- Input
- text, image, video, pdf
- Output
- image, text
- License
- proprietary
- Pricing
- input: $1.5 · output: $7.5 · per image 1k: $0.0336 · per image 2k: $0.0504 · per image 4k: $0.113 (per 1M tokens: $1.50 input (text/image/video), $7.50 text+thinking output, $30 image output (= $0.0336 per 1K, $0.0504 per 2K, $0.113 per 4K image); Batch is half price; no free tier) source
- Verified
- 2026-10-07
How to call it
| Provider | Model id | Endpoint / URL | Docs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini API | gemini-nano-banana-2.1 | https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-nano-banana-2.1:generateContent | docs |
| Google AI Studio | — | aistudio.google.com?model=gemini-nano-banana-2.1 | — |
| OpenRouter | google/gemini-nano-banana-2.1 | — | — |
| Web app | — | gemini.google.com | — |
Notable capabilities (4)
- Half the per-image price of Nano Banana 2: Image output is $30 per 1M tokens versus $60 for gemini-3.1-flash-image: a 1K image costs $0.0336 instead of $0.067. Input is pricier ($1.50 vs $0.50 per 1M). source
- Built on Gemini 3.6 Flash: Model card: 'Nano Banana 2.1 is based on Gemini 3.6 Flash', with a March 2026 knowledge cutoff. source
- Configurable thinking and search grounding: Thinking levels minimal / medium (default) / high; grounding with Google Web and Image Search; up to 14 reference images (4 consistent characters, 10 objects). source
- Fixed panorama tiling: Fixes tiling artifacts at 1:4, 4:1, 1:8 and 8:1 aspect ratios at 2K and 4K, and improves text and infographic layout. source
Google's default fast image generation/editing model from Oct 2026, successor to Nano Banana 2 (gemini-3.1-flash-image).
curl "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-nano-banana-2.1:generateContent" \
-H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"contents":[{"parts":[{"text":"An infographic about the water cycle"}]}]}'
Sources: model page, pricing, Gemini API changelog, Oct 6 2026, model card, The Decoder.
Timeline entry
- Google releases Nano Banana 2.1 image model (based on Gemini 3.6 Flash) at about half the per-image price of Nano Banana 2 ★★★
On 6 Oct 2026 Google made Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1) generally available in the Gemini API, AI Studio and the Gemini app. Its model card says it is based on Gemini 3.6 Flash. Image output costs $30 per 1M tokens ($0.0336 per 1K image), half of Nano Banana 2's $60. Google deprecated…
Other Google DeepMind models
EmbeddingGemma 2 · Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS · Gemini 3.8 Live · Gemini 3.8 Flash · Gemini 3.5 Transcribe (and Transcribe Live) · Lyria 3.5 · Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite · Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Image) · Gemini Omni Flash (Omni 1.1 Flash) · Gemini Embedding 2 · Gemma 4 · Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) · Gemini 4 Argon · Gemini Robotics 2 · Gemini Robotics ER 2 · Gemini Robotics On-Device 2 · Gemini 3.5 Live Translate · Gemini 3.1 Pro · Veo 3.1 · Genie 3 · Lyria RealTime · Gemini 3.7 Flash · Gemini 3.6 Flash · Gemini 3.5 Flash · Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS (preview) · Gemini 3.1 Flash Live (preview) · Lyria 3 (Clip / Pro) · Lyria 2 · Gemini 2.5 Flash Native Audio (Live, preview) · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite · Gemini 2.5 Flash · Gemini 2.5 Pro · Gemini 2.5 Flash TTS / Pro TTS · Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite · Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) · Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.5 / 1.6 · Imagen 4