API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewGrok Build 0.1 vs Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)

Pick Grok Build 0.1 when budget and context both matter.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Grok Build 0.1 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok Build 0.1 is estimated at $2 vs $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview), saving $6 (75% lower).

Cost-first pickGrok Build 0.1
Context-first pickGrok Build 0.1
Sample savings$675%
10x traffic gap$60

Grok Build 0.1 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $60. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Grok Build 0.1 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGrok Build 0.1Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputGrok Build 0.1$6$16
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputGrok Build 0.1$3$14
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputGrok Build 0.1$11$62
Cheaper input Grok Build 0.1 $1 vs $2 / 1M

Grok Build 0.1 is $1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).

Cheaper output Grok Build 0.1 $2 vs $12 / 1M

Grok Build 0.1 is $10 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).

Larger context Grok Build 0.1 256K vs 65.54K

Grok Build 0.1 has 190.46K more context (3.91x larger).

Sample workload Grok Build 0.1 $2 vs $8

Grok Build 0.1 is $6 cheaper on the standard workload (75% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Grok Build 0.1 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

Grok Build 0.1 has the lower input price; Grok Build 0.1 has the lower output price; Grok Build 0.1 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Grok Build 0.1 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2 for Grok Build 0.1 and $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview).

Best Fit

Choose Grok Build 0.1 when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro 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, Grok Build 0.1 is estimated at $2 vs $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview), saving $6 (75% lower).
  • Grok Build 0.1 is $6 cheaper on the standard workload (75% lower).
  • Grok Build 0.1 is $1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
  • Grok Build 0.1 is $10 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).
  • Grok Build 0.1 has 190.46K more context (3.91x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNewGrok Build 0.1
(xAI)
Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)
(Google)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$1$2
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$2$12
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$2$8
Context Window256K65.54K
Release Date

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionGrok Build 0.1On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Grok Build 0.1 is estimated at $2 vs $8 for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview), saving $6 (75% lower).
High-volume input processingGrok Build 0.1Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGrok Build 0.1Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGrok Build 0.1A 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.
Popular competitors
  • No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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xAI catalog

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Google catalog

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Grok Build 0.1

Grok Build 0.1 is xAI’s fast coding model trained specifically for agentic software engineering workflows. It supports text and image inputs with text output, and is optimized for interactive coding...

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...