Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Updated October 21, 2026. No benchmark has tested both models yet. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $2.50
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- 10.4
- Output $/M
- $0.40
Decision reading
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) has results on Design Arena: images, Design Arena: graphic design and Design Arena: logos; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite on LiveCodeBench (Vals AI), LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) and Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run). 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 Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a AA Intelligence Index result, 10.4.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a GPQA Diamond result, 70.2%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a AIME result, 42.1%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a MMLU Pro result, 79.1%.
Directional only
Image generation
Design Arena: images
No call
Only Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) has a Design Arena: images result, 1179.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 33K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) $0.0015, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.0003 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) not benchmarked, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 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
- Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) $2.50 against Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.40 per million output tokens, 6.3x apart.
- Context window
- Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) takes 33K tokens, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 1.05M.
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 Index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 71.4% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 59.3% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 4.5% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 10.4 | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 133.8 | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 19.0% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 70.2% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | Not measured | 75.4% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 62.5% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 6.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 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 | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | Not measured | 42.1% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | Not measured | 89.5% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 53.3 | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 53.3% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | Not measured | 79.1% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 82.0% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | Not measured | 57.6% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | Not measured | 66.2% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | Not measured | 57.6% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 88.9% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | Not measured | 34.2% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 75.9% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 30.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | Not measured | 75.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| IFBench | Not measured | 49.9% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 55.7% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 62.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 18.1% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
Image generationDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: images | 1179 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) measured |
| Design Arena: graphic design | 1151 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) measured |
| Design Arena: logos | 1169 | Not measured | Only Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) 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
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 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 | Google Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | Google Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | ||
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | October 7, 2025 | July 22, 2025 |
| Context window | 33K | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $0.40 |
| 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 Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) better than Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
Which is cheaper, Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) or Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?
Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs $0.10 and $0.40. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) or Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 33K.
Has any benchmark tested both Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) has results on Design Arena: images, Design Arena: graphic design and Design Arena: logos; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite on LiveCodeBench (Vals AI), LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) and Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run). Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 21, 2026.