AI Image Model Prices Compared: Nano Banana 2.1 vs. FLUX 3 Image
Google halved its per-image price at 1K and 2K while FLUX 3 added a 4K tier that costs six times a 2K image. Here is what 1,000 images cost on each.
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Nano Banana 2.1 is cheaper than FLUX 3 Image at every resolution on list price. On Google's Gemini API, a 1K image costs $0.0336 against $0.048 for FLUX 3, and a 4K image costs about $0.113 against $0.607. Both launched in October 2026, and the cheapest paths are Google's batch API and FLUX 3's smaller Klein model.
This comparison is for developers and teams that generate images through an API, such as product shots, ads or app content. Model Drop tracks new models, platforms and tools, and this piece compares prices and fit, not image quality, which we did not test. We cover the price tables, a worked monthly budget and the hidden costs that change the total.
What Did Google Change With Nano Banana 2.1?
Google released Nano Banana 2.1 on October 6, 2026, and it was generally available from day one. According to Origami's breakdown of Nano Banana 2.1 pricing, it costs $0.0336 for a 1K image, $0.0504 for 2K and $0.113 for 4K on the Gemini API standard tier. Nano Banana 2 cost $0.067, $0.101 and $0.151 at the same sizes.
That halves the price at 1K and 2K, but 4K drops only about 25%. Output image tokens fell from $60 to $30 per million. Nano Banana 2 is now marked deprecated, with no shutdown date yet.
The catch is on the input side. Input tokens rose from $0.50 to $1.50 per million, three times as much. Each reference image costs about $0.0017 on 2.1, against about $0.0006 before, so heavy editing workflows save less than the headline suggests.
One note on sources. Another outlet, AI Weekly, reports a lower 4K price than Origami does. We use Origami's $0.113 because it shows its full table, but check Google's pricing page before you budget for 4K.
What Does FLUX 3 Image Cost?
Black Forest Labs sells FLUX 3 Image by the image, priced by resolution. Layer3 Labs' FLUX 3 Image pricing guide, updated October 16, lists $0.041 at 768sq, $0.048 at 1K, $0.070 at 1.5K, $0.100 at 2K and $0.607 at 4K. Prices are identical across aspect ratios.
The 4K step is steep. Going from 2K to 4K costs about six times as much for four times the pixels. Layer3 advises reserving 4K for cases that truly need native 16.8-megapixel output.
FLUX 3 Image Klein is the cheaper sibling. It costs $0.008 at 768sq, $0.009 at 1K, $0.014 at 2K and $0.036 at 4K. Klein can be self-hosted free under the FLUX Kommunity License if your annual revenue is under $5 million, according to the same guide, while FLUX 3 Image weights are not public.
How Do the Prices Compare Side by Side?
The easiest comparison is cost per 1,000 images. The table below multiplies each list price by 1,000 and uses standard, non-batch rates.
| Model | 1K | 2K | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nano Banana 2.1 | $33.60 | $50.40 | $113 |
| Nano Banana 2 (old) | $67 | $101 | $151 |
| FLUX 3 Image | $48 | $100 | $607 |
| FLUX 3 Image Klein | $9 | $14 | $36 |
The table above shows Klein as the cheapest at every size, Nano Banana 2.1 as the cheapest of the full-size models and FLUX 3 as the priciest at 4K. Price is only one factor. Klein is a smaller model, and its quality on your content may differ.
The Capital and Compute October release tracker also lists Alibaba's Qwen-Image-2.1-Turbo at $0.014 per image. It is an eight-step distilled model under a research licence, so check the terms before you use it commercially.
What Does a Real Monthly Budget Look Like?
Take a store that generates 50,000 product images a month at 1K. On Nano Banana 2.1 standard, that costs about $1,680. On FLUX 3 Image it costs $2,400, and on Klein it costs $450.
Batch changes the picture. Origami reports that Google's batch API drops a 1K Nano Banana 2.1 image to $0.0168. The same 50,000 images then cost about $840, if you can wait for batch turnaround.
Now look at 4K. A marketing team making 2,000 hero images a month at 4K pays about $226 on Nano Banana 2.1, $1,214 on FLUX 3 Image and $72 on Klein. The gap is large enough that resolution policy matters as much as model choice.
Those figures leave out thinking tokens, retries and reference images. Origami advises checking the usage report after about 100 images, or using count_tokens before you send requests. Build a 15% buffer into your estimate until you have real data.
Which Hidden Costs Change the Total?
Retries are the biggest one. If one image in three needs a regeneration, your effective price rises by half. A cheaper model that misses more often can cost more than a pricier model that gets it right.
Reference images are the second. Editing workflows may send up to ten reference images per call. On Nano Banana 2.1, each costs about $0.0017, so ten adds about $0.017 per request, which is half the base price of a 1K image.
Thinking tokens are the third. Nano Banana 2.1 offers optional thinking at $7.50 per million tokens, with medium as the default, according to Origami. That is easy to miss in a price table.
Storage and delivery are the fourth. Layer3 notes that FLUX signed URLs expire after one hour, so you must download results quickly. Build that step into your pipeline or you may lose images.
How Do You Choose Between Them?
Start with the job. For high-volume, low-risk work such as thumbnails and catalog shots, Klein or Nano Banana 2.1 batch will cost the least. For text-heavy images, Origami advises 2K on Nano Banana 2.1, since small text often blurs at 1K.
For work where detail matters, such as hero art, test the larger FLUX 3 model against Nano Banana 2.1 at the same size. Do not pay for 4K by default. View results at the size your page actually displays before you decide.
Think about flexibility as well. Our look at LLM gateways and model routing explains how a gateway lets you send easy jobs to a cheap model and hard ones to a premium one. The same idea works for images.
If you plan to self-host Klein, price the hardware first. Our guide to GPU cloud platforms in 2026 covers rental tiers, and the break-even depends on your monthly volume.
What About Older Models and Migration?
Google's lineup now has several tiers, and each has a shelf life. Origami lists Nano Banana Pro at $0.134 for 1K and 2K and $0.24 for 4K, so a 1K image on 2.1 costs about a quarter of a Pro image. In Google's own preference tests, 2.1 with thinking scored higher than Pro, though those tests are not independent.
Nano Banana 2 is deprecated, with no shutdown date announced yet, and Origami recommends moving to 2.1. The original model, gemini-2.5-flash-image, shuts down on March 15, 2027. If your app calls an older model by name, put a migration on your calendar now.
Migrating is not just a name change. Prices differ, defaults for thinking may differ and output style can shift slightly. Run your regression set on 2.1 before you flip production, and keep the old model available behind a flag for a few weeks.
The same rule applies to FLUX. Layer3 notes that FLUX.2 [pro] costs $0.030 for the first megapixel plus $0.015 per additional megapixel, so at 1 megapixel the new FLUX 3 Image costs about 60% more. Klein is about 70% cheaper than FLUX.2 [pro] at that size, which may be the reason to move.
Licensing deserves a read too. Klein is free to self-host only below $5 million in annual revenue, and FLUX 3 Image weights are not public, so a larger business needs a commercial deal. Price it before you design your pipeline around it.
How Should You Test Before Switching?
Run a small, fair test. Pick 20 real prompts from your workload, with the references and sizes you actually use. Origami suggests running about 20 real images through both models before switching.
Score the outputs on the things your customers notice. Use this short list.
- Check that text in the image is readable at your display size.
- Look for faces, hands and product edges that look wrong.
- Compare style consistency across a batch of ten.
- Record the retry rate, not only the first-try price.
- Multiply the effective cost per usable image by your monthly volume.
The list above turns the price table into a decision. The cost per usable image, after retries, is the number that matters. Our guide to AI image generation models compared covers quality, speed and control in more depth.
At Model Drop, we treat any single price table as provisional. Prices change quickly, and launch discounts can distort the picture. Re-check before every large run.
Conclusion
On list price, Nano Banana 2.1 beats FLUX 3 Image at every resolution, and Klein beats both. The differences are largest at 4K, where FLUX 3 costs about five times as much as Nano Banana 2.1.
Your next step is to run 20 of your own prompts through two candidates, count retries and calculate the cost per usable image. Use batch pricing for work that can wait, and keep 4K for the images that truly need it.
