Google debuts Gemini Nano-Banana image editing with lower cost than OpenAI

Google has rolled out Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, formerly known as Nano-Banana, as its latest upgrade to Gemini’s image editing capabilities. The tool is available through the Gemini app, API, Google AI Studio, and Vertex AI. The model’s improvements focus on preserving likeness across edits, allowing consistent rendering of faces, backgrounds, and other features through multiple editing steps.

The upgrade also introduces multi-turn editing, style blending, and the ability to merge elements from several images. All generated images include visible watermarks and SynthID metadata to signal AI origin. Google positioned the model as a resource for developers and enterprises seeking scalable AI-driven editing tools that maintain fidelity across workflows.

Pricing comes in at around four cents per image, based on developer API usage. That compares with an average of nine cents per image for OpenAI’s gpt-image-1 model, which ranges between two and nineteen cents depending on output quality. The lower cost makes Gemini a competitive choice for businesses requiring large volumes of consistent edits, including e-commerce and marketing teams.

The release signals Google’s intent to expand adoption of its Gemini suite by combining lower cost with editing reliability. By focusing on character consistency and multi-step workflows, Google is positioning Gemini as a practical option in a market where price and stability directly influence deployment at scale.

The internet is having a moment with Gemini’s new Nano-Banana editor. Early reactions show that people are struck not just by the price point but by how consistent the edits look. Character likeness, background fidelity, even pet photos — this is exactly the kind of detail that makes image generation tools useful instead of gimmicky. The reaction is fueling adoption at a pace that OpenAI and others will have to answer for.

Meanwhile, Adobe is facing uncomfortable questions. Stock contributors are noticing a drop in relevance as businesses explore Gemini and OpenAI as faster, cheaper ways to generate visuals. For a company that positioned itself as the professional’s platform, seeing internet users — including designers — praise Gemini’s editing workflows highlights how expertise in this field is shifting. If the tools are good enough for pros and cheap enough for scale, that spells a structural problem for Adobe’s creative ecosystem.

The takeaway is that Google has inserted itself squarely into the professional design conversation, not as a novelty but as an alternative workflow. And if Adobe cannot defend its stock marketplace with speed, pricing, or rights clarity, the internet’s current enthusiasm for Gemini might not just be a trend — it could be a signal that a long-standing industry model is weakening.