Nano Banana 2.1

Google · Imagen & Nano Banana line · image

Released October 6, 2026Latest in the line

Nano Banana 2.1 was released by Google on October 6, 2026, as an image model in the Imagen & Nano Banana line.

Release 9 of 9 in the Imagen & Nano Banana line.
Came 98 days after Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Image), released Jun 30, 2026.
Still the newest model in the line.
These days the line ships a new model about every 98 days.

What changed

An update to Nano Banana 2 built on Gemini 3.6 Flash that scores 60 Elo higher in Google's blind text-to-image tests at about half the price per image.

Compared with Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) · the model it replaces

Preferred more often than Nano Banana 2 in blind image comparisons

Google text-to-image Elo — people pick the better image blind

1050

▲ up from 990 for Nano Banana 2 · +60 Elo, margin about 14 · Google's own test, thinking mode

Costs about half as much per image as Nano Banana 2

Gemini API price per generated image — 1K resolution

$0.0336 / image

▲ down from $0.067 for Nano Banana 2 · 2K image $0.0504

Sources: Google DeepMind · Gemini API pricing · Gemini API docs

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Where the Imagen & Nano Banana line stands

Nano Banana 2.1 is the current model in this line. The card shows how long it has been since the last release against the line's usual gap and its recent ones — the rhythm, not a date.