Nano Banana vs Ideogram

Nano Banana

If you came here for Imagen, it is gone: the Gemini API has shut the Imagen models down, Vertex AI lists their endpoints as discontinued, and the DeepMind page redirects to Nano Banana. What replaced it is a stronger editing-first family that keeps characters consistent, follows layout instructions and renders text, priced by the image at rates that undercut most rivals at the Lite tier. Pick it when you need editing and consistency inside a Google stack; look elsewhere if you need an open-weights model you can run yourself.

Pros

• +Three tiers from a cheap Lite model to a 4K Pro model, all under one API
• +Editing, multi-image reference and character consistency are first-class rather than bolted on
• +Readable in-image text, a weak spot of earlier generators
• +Free access in the Gemini app and AI Studio before any API spend

Cons

• −The Imagen name, SDK method and response format are retired, so existing integrations break
• −No free tier in the API for image models — every generated image is billed
• −Output carries Google's SynthID watermark and usage sits under Google's content policies
• −Pro-tier 4K images cost about seven times a Lite image

Ideogram

If the image needs words in it, this is still the model that spells them correctly, and that single capability is worth more than a broader feature list to anyone making posters or packaging — everything else about it is merely competitive.

Pros

• +Text rendering remains the best in the category and is the whole reason to choose it
• +Documented API at docs.ideogram.ai for integration
• +Style presets, region editing and character consistency round it out beyond a bare generator
• +Entry tier at about $8 is cheap next to Midjourney

Cons

• −Credit costs vary by model and quality setting, so plan sizes are hard to translate into images
• −Free tier is a weekly trickle rather than anything usable
• −The pricing page is bot-protected, making prices hard to confirm independently
• −Priority credits are monthly and the queue is genuinely slow without them

Is Nano Banana cheaper than Ideogram?

They charge in different units, so there is no like-for-like answer: Nano Banana starts at $0.0336/image, Ideogram at $8/mo. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it.

Does Nano Banana or Ideogram have a free tier?

Both: Nano Banana has a free tier, and Ideogram has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Nano Banana or Ideogram?

Both ship a public API, so either can be built on; the fact table above shows the platforms each one runs on.