API cost decision in 10 seconds

GPT-5.4 Mini vs Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

Pick Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) for lower cost; pick GPT-5.4 Mini only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T10:03:26Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T14:08:03Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) for lower cost; pick GPT-5.4 Mini only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is estimated at $2 vs $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini, saving $1 (33.3% lower).

Cost-first pickNano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

Context-first pickGPT-5.4 Mini

Sample savings$133.3%

10x traffic gap$10

GPT-5.4 Mini has more context, but Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) saves $1 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $10. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GPT-5.4 Mini	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	$6	$4
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	$5.25	$3.5
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	$23.25	$15.5

Cheaper input Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) $0.75 vs $0.5 / 1M

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $0.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).

Cheaper output Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) $4.5 vs $3 / 1M

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).

Larger context GPT-5.4 Mini 400K vs 131.07K

GPT-5.4 Mini has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).

Sample workload Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) $3 vs $2

Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $1 cheaper on the standard workload (33.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GPT-5.4 Mini 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; Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) has the lower output price; GPT-5.4 Mini offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini and $2 for Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview).

Best Fit

Choose GPT-5.4 Mini when you care most about larger context window.

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

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is estimated at $2 vs $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini, saving $1 (33.3% lower).
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $1 cheaper on the standard workload (33.3% lower).
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $0.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
GPT-5.4 Mini has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	GPT-5.4 Mini (OpenAI)	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (Google)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.75	$0.5
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$4.5	$3
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$3	$2
Context Window	400K	131.07K
Release Date	2026-03-17	2026-02-26

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is estimated at $2 vs $3 for GPT-5.4 Mini, saving $1 (33.3% 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	Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GPT-5.4 Mini	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.4 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.4 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5.4 Mini when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.

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.

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Provider catalogs

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OpenAI catalog

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Google catalog

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GPT-5.4 Mini

GPT-5.4 mini brings the core capabilities of GPT-5.4 to a faster, more efficient model optimized for high-throughput workloads. It supports text and image inputs with strong performance across reasoning, coding,...

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...