Nano Banana API: How to Get a Key, Pricing and Examples

Prices are from Google’s Gemini API pricing page and drop by half in batch mode. The preview ID gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview was shut down on June 25, 2026, and Google lists March 15, 2027 as the earliest shutdown date for gemini-2.5-flash-image, so new code should use the IDs above. Imagen models are no longer available in the Gemini API.

This is Google’s minimal text-to-image call with the google-genai SDK. Set GEMINI_API_KEY in your environment first.

# pip install google-genai
from google import genai
import base64

client = genai.Client()  # reads GEMINI_API_KEY

interaction = client.interactions.create(
    model="gemini-nano-banana-2.1",
    input="A glossy yellow banana-shaped perfume bottle on white marble, studio light",
)

with open("generated_image.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(base64.b64decode(interaction.output_image.data))

Swap the model ID for any row in the table. Google’s image generation docs show image editing, multi-image references, aspect ratios and the JavaScript, Go and REST versions.

• You pay per output image. The price depends on the model and the resolution, as in the table.
• Inputs cost a little extra. Your prompt and any reference images are billed as input tokens, usually a small part of the total.
• Batch mode halves the price if you can wait for results instead of getting them right away.
• There is no free tier for image models. Google’s pricing page marks them as not available on the free tier, so billing must be on before the first image.

The cheapest current options are Nano Banana 2 Lite and Nano Banana 2.1 at $0.0336 per 1K image. Pro at 4K is the most expensive at $0.24.

Limits are set per project in requests per minute and per day, and they rise as your account moves up Google’s usage tiers. Daily limits reset at midnight Pacific time. Check the rate limit page in Google AI Studio for your current numbers before running large batches.

• Vertex AI on Google Cloud offers the same models for companies that need Google Cloud contracts, regions and quotas.
• API gateways such as OpenRouter, fal, Replicate and the Vercel AI Gateway resell access with their own keys and prices. They are handy if you already use them for other models, but compare their per-image price with Google’s list price.

If you need images rather than an integration, you can skip keys and billing setup. Nano Banana AI runs Nano Banana, Nano Banana 2 Lite, Nano Banana 2 and Nano Banana Pro in the browser on one credit balance, next to models like GPT Image 2. Nano Banana AI does not offer a public API.