Nano Banana 2.1 vs Qwen-Image 2.1
Preferred for text to image: Nano Banana 2.1 · Preferred for image editing: Nano Banana 2.1 · Newest: Nano Banana 2.1. Quality scores are blind human-preference votes; specs and prices come from each lab’s listings.
GoogleNano Banana 2.1
- Arena1,427
- From$0.034/image
- Max size4K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen-Image 2.1
- Arena1,362
- From—
- Max size—
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Where they differ
Quality is the arena score from blind, side-by-side human votes. Price, length and resolution come from each lab’s own listings.
- Preferred for text to imageNano Banana 2.1Nano Banana 2.1 1,325 (#5) · Qwen-Image 2.1 1,225 (#19) — blind human votes
- Preferred for image editingNano Banana 2.1Nano Banana 2.1 1,427 (#7) · Qwen-Image 2.1 1,362 (#20) — blind human votes
- NewestNano Banana 2.1Nano Banana 2.1 Oct 6, 2026 · Qwen-Image 2.1 Sep 14, 2026
- Widest inputsNano Banana 2.1Nano Banana 2.1: Text prompts, Reference images, Video · Qwen-Image 2.1: Text prompts, Reference images
- Image editingBoth edit imagesTakes a reference image as input: Nano Banana 2.1 yes · Qwen-Image 2.1 yes
- Self-hostingQwen-Image 2.1Downloadable weights (qwen-research)
- Most API hostsNano Banana 2.1Nano Banana 2.1: 5 · Qwen-Image 2.1: 1
Every spec in one table
Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Nano Banana 2.1Google | Qwen-Image 2.1Alibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Quality (blind human votes) | ||
| Text to image arenaElo-style score · higher is better | 1,325 ±9#5 of 82 · 5,290 votes (best) | 1,225 ±6#19 of 82 · 19,604 votes |
| Image editing arenaElo-style score · higher is better | 1,427 ±6#7 of 61 · 12,956 votes (best) | 1,362 ±6#20 of 61 · 39,412 votes |
| Price | ||
| Starting price | $0.034/image 1K | — |
| Top price | $0.113/image 4K | — |
| How it is billed | Billed per token; Google’s listed cost per image. | — |
| Output | ||
| Produces | Images | Images |
| Resolutions | 1K · 2K · 4K | — |
| Highest resolution | 4K | — |
| Largest image | 4K (about 16 MP) | — |
| Images per request | Up to 1 | — |
| Text in the reply | Yes | — |
| Inputs | ||
| Text prompts | Yes | Yes |
| Reference images (editing) | Yes | Yes |
| Max reference images | 14 | — |
| Access | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Openqwen-research |
| API hosts | 5 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Oct 6, 2026 | Sep 14, 2026 |
Which should you choose?
Which is better, Nano Banana 2.1 or Qwen-Image 2.1?
For text to image, voters prefer Nano Banana 2.1 (Nano Banana 2.1 1,325 (#5) · Qwen-Image 2.1 1,225 (#19)). For image editing, voters prefer Nano Banana 2.1 (Nano Banana 2.1 1,427 (#7) · Qwen-Image 2.1 1,362 (#20)). Arena scores come from blind, side-by-side human votes on the same prompts; when the gap is inside both models’ error margins we call it a tie. Test your own prompts before you commit.
Which is cheaper?
Nano Banana 2.1 costs from $0.034/image (1K), up to $0.113/image (4K). Qwen-Image 2.1 has no published per-image price. Prices are list rates and change often; check the lab before budgeting.
What is the difference between Nano Banana 2.1 and Qwen-Image 2.1?
Nano Banana 2.1 is an image model from Google (Oct 6, 2026), taking text prompts, reference images and video and producing images. Qwen-Image 2.1 is an image model from Alibaba (Qwen) (Sep 14, 2026), taking text prompts and reference images and producing images.
Which is newer?
Nano Banana 2.1 Oct 6, 2026; Qwen-Image 2.1 Sep 14, 2026.
Which can edit an existing image?
Takes a reference image as input: Nano Banana 2.1 yes; Qwen-Image 2.1 yes.
Can I run any of these on my own hardware?
Qwen-Image 2.1. Downloadable weights (qwen-research).
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