Nano Banana 2.1 vs the original Nano Banana.
The original Nano Banana, Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, is the model that made the name famous in August 2025. It is also now a deprecated one. This page measures how far Nano Banana 2.1 has come in just over a year, and what the original's deprecation means for anything still built on it.
Which one to pick.
Nano Banana 2.1 is better on every measure we can source, and cheaper too: $0.0336 against $0.039 per 1K-class image (14% less), 178 points higher on Arena's text-to-image board and 135 higher on its image-edit board.
The original now has a deprecation date, so this is less a choice than a migration. If you still call gemini-2.5-flash-image, the useful questions are when to move and what to move to.
- Choose Nano Banana 2.1 for
- Everything new, and every existing workflow once you have checked that its output still suits you.
- Choose Nano Banana for
- Nothing new. The only reason to stay is to defer a migration until the shutdown date Google gives you.
The two side by side.
Google's published figures as of 2026-10-07. Prices are Google's list prices per image, not Autotube's.
| Nano Banana 2.1 | Nano Banana | |
|---|---|---|
| Google's name | Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Image (gemini-2.5-flash-image) |
| Released | October 6, 2026 | August 2025; stable model ID October 2, 2025 |
| Google's status | Current. No shutdown date announced. | Deprecated. Google's deprecations table lists a March 15, 2027 shutdown, while its pricing page says October 2, 2026; Google recommends moving to Nano Banana 2 Lite. |
| Output sizes | 1K, 2K and 4K (no 0.5K) | About one megapixel only (1024×1024 for a square) |
| Aspect ratios | 14, including the wide and tall 1:4, 4:1, 1:8 and 8:1 | The 10 standard ratios from 1:1 to 21:9 |
| Reference images | Up to 14 (up to 10 objects and 4 characters) | Not documented in Google's image-generation guide |
| Price per 1K image | $0.0336 | $0.039 |
| Price per 2K image | $0.0504 | Not offered |
| Price per 4K image | $0.113 | Not offered |
| Batch API price per 1K image | $0.0168 | $0.0195 |
| Arena text-to-image (2026-10-06) | #5, score 1,328 (preliminary) | #34, score 1,150 |
| Arena image edit (2026-10-06) | #6, score 1,428 (preliminary) | #31, score 1,293 |
| Thinking mode | Supported (minimal, medium by default, high) | Not supported |
| Google Search grounding | Supported, web and image search | Not supported |
| Votes behind the Arena text-to-image score | 5,312 (preliminary) | 889,326 |
Arena (arena.ai) scores are rank and rating on its own boards, last updated 2026-10-06; they are never mixed here with another leaderboard’s scale. Arena marks a new model’s scores preliminary until enough votes are in. Nano Banana is a trademark of Google, and Autotube is not affiliated with Google.
A generation apart on Arena.
Arena's text-to-image board puts Nano Banana 2.1 at #5 on 1,328 and the original at #34 on 1,150, a 178-point gap. On image editing, the category the original was known for, 2.1 is #6 on 1,428 against #31 on 1,293, 135 points apart. Both were read on October 6, 2026.
The original's Arena entry is its preview identifier, gemini-2.5-flash-image-preview, and it rests on far more votes than 2.1: 889,326 on text-to-image and 11,383,435 on editing, against 5,312 and 12,985 for 2.1. Arena marks 2.1 preliminary for that reason, but gaps of this size are not the sort a few thousand more votes is likely to erase.
A board also moves as newer models arrive and voters compare against them. A model released in August 2025 sits lower on a board crowded with 2026 models; that is part of what its rank measures, and it is an accurate picture of what you would be choosing among today.
14% cheaper, with more on offer.
Google lists the original at $0.039 per image, for output of about one megapixel (up to 1024x1024). Nano Banana 2.1's 1K image is $0.0336. The Batch API follows the same ordering: $0.0168 against $0.0195.
The newer model is cheaper and also adds sizes the original never had: 2K at $0.0504 and 4K at $0.113.
What a year added.
The original produces about one megapixel per image, has no thinking mode and no Google Search grounding, and documents a set of 10 aspect ratios from 1:1 to 21:9. Google's guide does not document a reference-image limit for it.
Nano Banana 2.1 adds 2K and 4K output, 14 aspect ratios that include 1:4, 4:1, 1:8 and 8:1, configurable thinking levels, web and image-search grounding, and up to 14 reference images (10 objects and 4 characters). Google also credits it with better text rendering, prompt adherence and multi-turn character consistency.
The original is deprecated, and Google's dates disagree.
Google's pricing page labels the original deprecated and gives a shutdown of October 2, 2026. Its deprecations table, updated October 7, 2026, lists the same model with a shutdown of March 15, 2027. Both are Google pages and we cannot tell which is current, so check the deprecations page before you rely on either date.
Google's recommended replacement is Nano Banana 2 Lite, which costs less than the original and renders only at 1K. Nano Banana 2.1 costs the same as Lite at 1K and ranks above it, and its 2K and 4K sizes are the part Lite does not have.
Nano Banana 2.1 is what Autotube runs.
Autotube runs every Nano Banana scene on Nano Banana 2.1 now, at 1K by default with a 2K tier for scenes that need a full 1080p frame. The original Nano Banana is retired in Autotube. Scenes and presets that used it now run on Nano Banana 2.1 at the same 1K tier, and 2.1 adds a 2K tier for scenes that need a full 1080p frame.
11 credits per image
How Autotube uses Nano Banana 2.1·What a credit is, and what a video costs
Nano Banana 2.1 vs Nano Banana: common questions
Where the figures come from.
Read on 2026-10-07. Provider pages change; check them before you commit money.
Weighing something else?
Make the next one in Autotube.
Bring a title. The app shows the exact credit cost before it runs a thing.