API cost decision in 10 seconds

Kimi K2 0905 vs Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

Pick Kimi K2 0905 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 Kimi K2 0905 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 0905 is estimated at $1.85 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.15 (7.5% lower).

Cost-first pickKimi K2 0905
Context-first pickKimi K2 0905
Sample savings$0.157.5%
10x traffic gap$1.5

Kimi K2 0905 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.5. 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 Kimi K2 0905, and output-heavy chatbot favors Kimi K2 0905.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickKimi K2 0905Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputNano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)$4.25$4
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputKimi K2 0905$3.1$3.5
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputKimi K2 0905$13.1$15.5
Cheaper input Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) $0.6 vs $0.5 / 1M

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).

Cheaper output Kimi K2 0905 $2.5 vs $3 / 1M

Kimi K2 0905 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).

Larger context Kimi K2 0905 262.14K vs 131.07K

Kimi K2 0905 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Kimi K2 0905 $1.85 vs $2

Kimi K2 0905 is $0.15 cheaper on the standard workload (7.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Kimi K2 0905 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

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) has the lower input price; Kimi K2 0905 has the lower output price; Kimi K2 0905 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Kimi K2 0905 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905 and $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview).

Best Fit

Choose Kimi K2 0905 when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

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

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 0905 is estimated at $1.85 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.15 (7.5% lower).
  • Kimi K2 0905 is $0.15 cheaper on the standard workload (7.5% lower).
  • Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
  • Kimi K2 0905 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
  • Kimi K2 0905 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureKimi K2 0905
(MoonshotAI)
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
(Google)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.6$0.5
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$2.5$3
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$1.85$2
Context Window262.14K131.07K
Release Date
Popularity#70#129

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionKimi K2 0905On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 0905 is estimated at $1.85 vs $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview), saving $0.15 (7.5% lower).
High-volume input processingNano 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 chatbotsKimi K2 0905Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workKimi K2 0905A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Kimi K2.5 can replace Kimi K2 0905 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.35.
  • Kimi K2 0711 can replace Kimi K2 0905 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.72.
  • 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.
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.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

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

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

MoonshotAI catalog

Review all tracked MoonshotAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open MoonshotAI models

Google catalog

Check other Google models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Google models
Kimi K2 0905

Kimi K2 0905 is the September update of [Kimi K2 0711](moonshotai/kimi-k2). It is a large-scale Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model developed by Moonshot AI, featuring 1 trillion total parameters with 32...

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

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...