API cost decision in 10 seconds

R1 0528 vs Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

Pick R1 0528 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick R1 0528 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.43 (21.3% lower).

Cost-first pickR1 0528
Context-first pickR1 0528
Sample savings$0.4321.3%
10x traffic gap$4.25

R1 0528 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $4.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

R1 0528 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickR1 0528Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputR1 0528$3.58$4
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputR1 0528$2.65$3.5
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputR1 0528$11.25$15.5
Cheaper input Tie $0.5 vs $0.5 / 1M

Both models report the same input price at $0.5 per 1M tokens.

Cheaper output R1 0528 $2.15 vs $3 / 1M

R1 0528 is $0.85 cheaper per 1M output tokens (28.3% lower; 1.4x difference).

Larger context R1 0528 163.84K vs 131.07K

R1 0528 has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Sample workload R1 0528 $1.57 vs $2

R1 0528 is $0.43 cheaper on the standard workload (21.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
R1 0528 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

both models tie on input price; R1 0528 has the lower output price; R1 0528 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, R1 0528 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.57 for R1 0528 and $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview).

Best Fit

Choose R1 0528 when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.43 (21.3% lower).
  • R1 0528 is $0.43 cheaper on the standard workload (21.3% lower).
  • Both models report the same input price at $0.5 per 1M tokens.
  • R1 0528 is $0.85 cheaper per 1M output tokens (28.3% lower; 1.4x difference).
  • R1 0528 has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureR1 0528
(DeepSeek)		Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
(Google)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.5$0.5
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$2.15$3
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$1.57$2
Context Window163.84K131.07K
Release Date
Popularity#106#129

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionR1 0528On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.43 (21.3% lower).
High-volume input processingTieLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsR1 0528Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workR1 0528A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

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Google catalog

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R1 0528

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Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview, a.k.a. "Nano Banana 2," is Google’s latest state of the art image generation and editing model, delivering Pro-level visual quality at Flash speed. It combines...