Nova Lite 1.0 vs Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
Nova Lite 1.0 costs 12.5x less per output token than Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) ($0.24 vs $3.00 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.24
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $3.00
Nova Lite 1.0 or Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview): which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Nova Lite 1.0 for output tokens 12.5x cheaper ($0.24 vs $3.00 per million) and a larger context window (300K against 66K tokens).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nova Lite 1.0 has results on LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run), Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) and LMArena Text: coding; Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) on Design Arena: images, Design Arena: graphic design and Design Arena: logos. Compare them on price and context instead.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Nova Lite 1.0 has a AA Intelligence Index result, 6.7.
Directional only
Image generation
Design Arena: images
No call
Only Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) has a Design Arena: images result, 1269.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens against 66K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 $0.0002, Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) $0.0020 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova Lite 1.0 not benchmarked, Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Nova Lite 1.0 $0.24 against Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) $3.00 per million output tokens, 12.5x apart.
- Context window
- Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens, Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) 66K.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 16.7% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 0.8% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1239 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1241 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 6.7 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 17.5% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 43.3% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.3% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1220 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1201 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1226 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 7.0 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 7.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1227 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1235 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 59.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| MMLU | 77.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1232 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1213 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1238 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1219 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 34.1% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 19.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1229 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1205 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1197 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Vision | 990 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1243 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1208 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1225 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1229 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1153 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1153 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1238 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1226 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1216 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1199 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1234 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1211 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1176 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Vision: English | 999 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
Image generationDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: images | Not measured | 1269 | Only Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) measured |
| Design Arena: graphic design | Not measured | 1249 | Only Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) measured |
| Design Arena: logos | Not measured | 1248 | Only Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0 costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Amazon Nova Lite 1.0 | Google Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | December 5, 2024 | February 26, 2026 |
| Context window | 300K | 66K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.06 | $0.50 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.24 | $3.00 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nova Lite 1.0 better than Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Nova Lite 1.0 for output tokens 12.5x cheaper ($0.24 vs $3.00 per million) and a larger context window (300K against 66K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Nova Lite 1.0 or Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)?
Nova Lite 1.0 costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.24 per million output tokens; Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) costs $0.50 and $3.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova Lite 1.0 or Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)?
Nova Lite 1.0, with 300K tokens against 66K.
Has any benchmark tested both Nova Lite 1.0 and Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nova Lite 1.0 has results on LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run), Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) and LMArena Text: coding; Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) on Design Arena: images, Design Arena: graphic design and Design Arena: logos. Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 21, 2026.