What is Nano Banana 2 Lite API?
Nano Banana 2 Lite is the most cost-efficient model in Google's Gemini 3.1 family. The model (google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image) handles text understanding, image input, and native image generation in a single unified architecture — without switching between separate models.
It ships under Google's standard commercial terms and is available via AI/ML API with no special tier requirement.
[Model Specifications embed]
[Performance Benchmarks embed]
API Pricing
Where to Use Nano Banana 2 Lite
High-volume image generation pipelines
At approximately $0.044 per image, Nano Banana 2 Lite makes large-scale programmatic image generation economically viable — product visuals, content thumbnails, or automated asset creation at scale.
Multimodal data extraction
Submit documents, screenshots, or mixed-content pages and receive structured text output. The model handles text and image input simultaneously.
Real-time interactive apps
The model's lightweight profile keeps latency low enough for applications where users expect near-instant image generation responses.
Automated content pipelines
Combine text analysis and image creation in a single API call — product descriptions that generate matching visuals, or editorial workflows where written briefs become images automatically.
Nano Banana 2 Lite vs. the Alternatives
Measured on the AI/ML API gateway across live traffic. Figures are medians unless stated. Last updated 2026-10-12.
Rapid prototyping and brainstorming visual ideas are documented use cases for Nano Banana 2 Lite, with Google describing it as ideal for rapid prototyping and brainstorming visual ideas.
Generating large batches of images is another stated use case, especially where high volume and speed matter.
Interactive prototyping and rapid visual drafting are explicitly mentioned, with the model described as well-suited for interactive prototyping and rapid visual drafting.
Contextual scene creation, including accurate contextual scenes and rough data visualizations, is also called out as a fit for the model.
import requests r = requests.post( "https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations", headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + AIMLAPI_KEY}, json={ "model": "google/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-image", "prompt": "A cat holding a sign that says hello" }, ) print(r.json())
const r = await fetch("https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations", { method: "POST", headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.AIMLAPI_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json", }, body: JSON.stringify({ "model": "google/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-image", "prompt": "A cat holding a sign that says hello" }), }); console.log(await r.json());
curl -X POST https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $AIMLAPI_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"model":"google/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-image","prompt":"A cat holding a sign that says hello"}'
OpenAI-compatible — swap the base URL and it works with your existing SDK.
| Type | Price |
|---|---|
| Input | |
| Output | |
Text input $0.325/1M · reasoning $1.95/1M · image output $39/1M.
| Benchmark | Score | What it measures | Source | Retrieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image Editing Arena | 1042 | Human preference Elo from blind pairwise comparisons of edited images, measured independently by Artificial Analysis | Source | September 21, 2026 |
| Model | Input | Output | Context | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nano Banana 2 Lite This page | Image generation at scale | |||
| Image generation at scale | ||||
| Image generation at scale | ||||
| Image generation at scale | ||||
| Image generation at scale |
Nano Banana 2 Lite takes image, text as input and returns image.
Nano Banana 2 Lite is priced at input $0.325 / 1M tokens, output $39 / 1M tokens.
Nano Banana 2 Lite is billed per token, charged separately for input and output.
Yes, Nano Banana 2 Lite accepts image input as well as a text prompt.
Nano Banana 2 Lite was built by Google.
Send a request to https://api.aimlapi.com/v1/images/generations with google/gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image as the model id.
Yes. Nano Banana 2 Lite is served through AI/ML API, so the same key and endpoint format used for other models applies.
Yes, it is a lighter and cheaper variant of Nano Banana 2, built for high-volume image generation.
