Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) vs Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)
| Signal | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) | Delta | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 86 | +14 | |
Pricing | 99 | +1 | |
Context window size | 86 | +5 | |
Recency | 100 | +24 | |
Output Capacity | 94 | +18 | |
Benchmarks | 0 | -80 | |
| Overall Result | 5 wins | of 6 | 1 wins |
Score History
22.4
current score
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)
right now
76.9
current score
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) saves you $55.00/month
That's $660.00/year compared to Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 22 | 77 | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
| Rank | #9 | #4 | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
| Quality Rank | #9 | #4 | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
| Adoption Rank | #9 | #4 | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 66K | 33K | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) |
| Pricing | $0.25/$1.50/M | $0.30/$2.50/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 86 | 71 | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) |
| Pricing | 99 | 98 | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) |
| Context window size | 86 | 81 | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) |
| Recency | 100 | 76 | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) |
| Output Capacity | 94 | 77 | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) |
| Benchmarks | -- | 81 | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 22/100 (rank #9), placing it in the top 97% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 77/100 (rank #4), placing it in the top 99% of all 290 models tracked.
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) has a 55-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Choose Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) when you need:
- High-volume production workloads where API costs must be minimized
- Processing long documents or large codebases (66K token context)
- Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
Choose Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) when you need:
- General-purpose tasks across coding, writing, and analysis
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) offers 37% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $26.25/month with Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) vs $42.00/month with Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) - a $15.75 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (66K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($1.50/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (77/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) clearly outperforms Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) with a significant 54.50000000000001-point lead. For most general use cases, Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) is the stronger choice. However, Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) may still excel in niche scenarios.
By Use Case
Best for Quality
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)
37% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by Google
- Choose for Quality - Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
- Choose for Cost - 37% lower pricing; better value at scale
- Choose for Reliability - Higher uptime and faster response speeds
- Choose for Prototyping - Stronger community support and better developer experience
- Choose for Production - Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
| Capability | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) saves you $1.29/month
That's 36% cheaper than Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 66K | 33K |
| Max Output Tokens | 66,000 | 8,192 |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Jun 30, 2026 | Oct 7, 2025 |