API cost decision in 10 seconds

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

Pick R1 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick R1 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 is estimated at $1.95 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.05 (2.5% lower).

Cost-first pickR1

Context-first pickR1

Sample savings$0.052.5%

10x traffic gap$0.5

R1 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), balanced workload favors R1, and output-heavy chatbot favors R1.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	R1
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	$4	$4.75
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	R1	$3.5	$3.2
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	R1	$15.5	$13.2

Cheaper input Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) $0.5 vs $0.7 / 1M

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (28.6% lower; 1.4x difference).

Cheaper output R1 $3 vs $2.5 / 1M

R1 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).

Larger context R1 131.07K vs 163.84K

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

Sample workload R1 $2 vs $1.95

R1 is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (2.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) Calculating… Estimated API cost

R1 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

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) has the lower input price; R1 has the lower output price; R1 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, R1 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) and $1.95 for R1.

Best Fit

Choose Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when you care most about lower input-token price.

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

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 is estimated at $1.95 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.05 (2.5% lower).
R1 is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (2.5% lower).
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (28.6% lower; 1.4x difference).
R1 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
R1 has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (Google)	R1 (DeepSeek)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.5	$0.7
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$3	$2.5
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2	$1.95
Context Window	131.07K	163.84K
Release Date	2026-02-26	2025-01-20
Popularity	#129	#144

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	R1	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 is estimated at $1.95 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.05 (2.5% lower).
High-volume input processing	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	R1	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	R1	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

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.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Google catalog

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DeepSeek catalog

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