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Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  3. Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) vs Gemini 3.6 Flash

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026noindex (thin pair)

Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) vs Gemini 3.6 Flash benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is more budget-friendly at $3/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Both Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) and Gemini 3.6 Flash present distinct architectural strengths. Compare the verified benchmark matrix below to choose the model tailored to your specific application requirements.
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Google
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

Auto-discovered from OpenRouter (google/gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview). Preview until a second source matches.

$3/1M out
Google
Gemini 3.6 Flash

Google Jul 21 workhorse. Now shares the 3.7 Flash introductory $0.75/$3.75 rate through Dec 31 2026.

3.6 FlashElo 1,506$3.75/1M out
Top Rival Showdowns for Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs GPT-5vs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen 3 Max
Preference Leader

No shared data

Single model data

Throughput Leader

No shared data

No latency data

Value per Dollar Leader

Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

$3 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Capability Matchup Radar

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Dimensional AdvantageGemini 3.6 Flash 5/6
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (2)vsGemini 3.6 Flash (8)
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview): 2W (20%)Overall: Gemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash: 8W (80%)
← Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)Gemini 3.6 Flash →
Gemini 3.6 Flash (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo
—vs1,506
Coding Elo
—vs1,514
SWE-bench
—vs70.8%
LiveBench
—vs67.2%
GPQA Diamond
—vs79.6%
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview): 0WGemini 3.6 Flash: 5W
Gemini 3.6 Flash (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed
—vs198 tok/s
Time to first token
—vs92 ms
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview): 0WGemini 3.6 Flash: 2W
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price
$3/1Mvs$3.75/1M
Input price
$0.5/1Mvs$0.75/1M
Context window
66kvs1M
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview): 2WGemini 3.6 Flash: 1W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)—
Gemini 3.6 Flash1,506
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
Coding Elo
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)—
Gemini 3.6 Flash1,514
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
LiveBench
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)—
Gemini 3.6 Flash67.2%
livebench · Aug 16, 2026
SWE-bench
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)—
Gemini 3.6 Flash70.8%
swebench · Aug 16, 2026
GPQA Diamond
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)—
Gemini 3.6 Flash79.6%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Time to first token
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)—
Gemini 3.6 Flash92 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Output speed
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)—
Gemini 3.6 Flash198 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Input priceGoogle: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (+$0.25/1M)
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)$0.5/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Gemini 3.6 Flash$0.75/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Output priceGoogle: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (+$0.75/1M)
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)$3/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Gemini 3.6 Flash$3.75/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Context windowGemini 3.6 Flash (+983k)
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)66k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Gemini 3.6 Flash1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
BenchmarkGoogle: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)Gemini 3.6 FlashAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo—
1,506
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
—
Coding Elo—
1,514
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
—
LiveBench—
67.2%
livebench · Aug 16, 2026
—
SWE-bench—
70.8%
swebench · Aug 16, 2026
—
GPQA Diamond—
79.6%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
—
Time to first token—
92 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
—
Output speed—
198 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
—
Input price
$0.5/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$0.75/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (+$0.25/1M)
Output price
$3/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$3.75/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) (+$0.75/1M)
Context window
66k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Gemini 3.6 Flash (+983k)
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 24% with Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)$62.50 / mo
In: $17.5Out: $45
Gemini 3.6 Flash$82.50 / mo
In: $26.25Out: $56.25
Estimated Cost Delta

Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) is estimated to save $20.00/month ($240/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview):Pick Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 2
    Gemini 3.6 Flash:Pick Gemini 3.6 Flash for million-token RAG or long-document jobs.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatGoogle: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

Lower output list price ($3/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGGemini 3.6 Flash

Larger window (1M).

Screenshots / visionGemini 3.6 Flash

Gemini 3.6 Flash is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsinsufficient dataNeed SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chatGoogle: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)Lower output list price ($3/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient dataNeed TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAGGemini 3.6 FlashLarger window (1M).
Screenshots / visionGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
priceAug 13, 2026

Gemini 3.6 Flash (Jul 21) now shares the 3.7 intro rate

Jul 21 workhorse that inherited $0.75/$3.75 through year-end. Keep the row; 3.7 is the newer sibling.

Community Sentiment

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CompareLLM Matrix

Verified head-to-head card

LIVE
VS
Google

Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview)

Elo n/a
LiveBench—
SWE-bench—
Speed—
Output cost$3/1M
Google

Gemini 3.6 Flash

Elo 1,506
LiveBench67.2%
SWE-bench70.8%
Speed198 tok/s
Output cost$3.75/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.
Which is better at coding, Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) output tokens are $3/1M versus $3.75/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
We do not have TTFT for both models.
Which has the larger context window?
Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts 1M tokens versus 66k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) and Gemini 3.6 Flash Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • price · Aug 13, 2026

    Gemini 3.6 Flash (Jul 21) now shares the 3.7 intro rate

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Google: Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview) matchups →|All Gemini 3.6 Flash matchups →
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 3 Flash (previous gemini-flash)Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 3.7 Flash (next gemini-flash)Gemini 3 Pro vs Gemini 3.6 FlashGemini 2.0 Flash Thinking vs Gemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Pro vs Gemini 3.6 FlashGemini 2.5 Pro vs Gemini 3.6 Flash