API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewPerceptron Mk1 vs Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)

Pick Perceptron Mk1 for lower cost; pick Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) only if the larger context window matters more.

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

Budget verdict

Pick Perceptron Mk1 for lower cost; pick Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Perceptron Mk1 is estimated at $0.9 vs $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview), saving $7.1 (88.8% lower).

Cost-first pickPerceptron Mk1
Context-first pickNano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)
Sample savings$7.188.8%
10x traffic gap$71

Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) has more context, but Perceptron Mk1 saves $7.1 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $71. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Perceptron Mk1 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickPerceptron Mk1Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputPerceptron Mk1$1.5$16
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputPerceptron Mk1$1.65$14
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputPerceptron Mk1$7.65$62
Cheaper input Perceptron Mk1 $0.15 vs $2 / 1M

Perceptron Mk1 is $1.85 cheaper per 1M input tokens (92.5% lower; 13.3x difference).

Cheaper output Perceptron Mk1 $1.5 vs $12 / 1M

Perceptron Mk1 is $10.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (87.5% lower; 8x difference).

Larger context Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) 32.77K vs 65.54K

Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) has 32.77K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Perceptron Mk1 $0.9 vs $8

Perceptron Mk1 is $7.1 cheaper on the standard workload (88.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Perceptron Mk1 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro 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

Perceptron Mk1 has the lower input price; Perceptron Mk1 has the lower output price; Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Perceptron Mk1 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.9 for Perceptron Mk1 and $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview).

Best Fit

Choose Perceptron Mk1 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Perceptron Mk1 is estimated at $0.9 vs $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview), saving $7.1 (88.8% lower).
  • Perceptron Mk1 is $7.1 cheaper on the standard workload (88.8% lower).
  • Perceptron Mk1 is $1.85 cheaper per 1M input tokens (92.5% lower; 13.3x difference).
  • Perceptron Mk1 is $10.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (87.5% lower; 8x difference).
  • Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) has 32.77K more context (2x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNewPerceptron Mk1
(Perceptron)		Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)
(Google)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.15$2
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$1.5$12
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$0.9$8
Context Window32.77K65.54K
Release Date

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionPerceptron Mk1On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Perceptron Mk1 is estimated at $0.9 vs $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview), saving $7.1 (88.8% lower).
High-volume input processingPerceptron Mk1Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsPerceptron Mk1Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workNano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro 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 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 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.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

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

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Perceptron catalog

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

Open Perceptron models

Google catalog

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

Open Google models
Perceptron Mk1

Perceptron Mk1 (Mark One) is Perceptron's highest-quality vision-language model for video and embodied reasoning.** It accepts image and video inputs paired with natural language queries, and produces detailed visual understanding...

Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)

Nano Banana Pro is Google’s most advanced image-generation and editing model, built on Gemini 3 Pro. It extends the original Nano Banana with significantly improved multimodal reasoning, real-world grounding, and...