// alternatives · October 2026
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) alternatives
Cheaper models that come close, budget substitutes, and the cheapest step up — chosen on published LiveBench scores and live list price, never on our opinion. Every model here supports image input, as Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) does.
LiveBench hasn't published a run for Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image). The strongest benchmarked model at a similar or lower price is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, scoring 74.0 overall.
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image): no published LiveBench run, $0.563 per 1M blended tokens, about $290.00/mo for a RAG assistant.
Benchmarked models at or below its price
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) has no published LiveBench run, so these are the highest-scoring benchmarked models priced no more than 25% above it — a known quantity to test against.
| Model | Overall | vs Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) | Blended / 1M | RAG assistant | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017deepseek 7% cheaper. Head to head → | 74.0 | — | $0.525−7% | $194.40/mo | 1.0M |
| Claude Haiku 5.5anthropic 64% cheaper. Head to head → | 69.8 | — | $0.200−64% | $74.00/mo | 1M |
| MiMo-V2.6-Proxiaomi 3% cheaper. Head to head → | 68.5 | — | $0.544−3% | $227.64/mo | 1.1M |
| MiniMax M3.1 Flashminimax 53% cheaper. Head to head → | 66.9 | — | $0.262−53% | $102.00/mo | 1.0M |
| GPT-6 Lunaopenai 64% cheaper. Head to head → | 64.6 | — | $0.200−64% | $74.00/mo | 1.1M |
| GLM 5.3 Flashz-ai 91% cheaper. Head to head → | 62.1 | — | $0.053−91% | $34.59/mo | 1.0M |
Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) alternatives FAQ
What is the best alternative to Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017. 7% cheaper. Every suggestion supports image input, like Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image).
How alternatives are chosen
- Scores — LiveBench release 2026-10-25. Only models with a published run are suggested on quality; a missing model means “not evaluated”, not “worse”.
- Prices — live list prices from OpenRouter, blended 3:1 input:output. Monthly figures price a RAG assistant with the published cached-input rate where there is one.
- Same job — suggestions must support every capability Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) has among tool calling and image input. Other listings of the same model (free or batch tiers) are variants, not alternatives, and are left out.
A few points on a public benchmark can hide large differences on your own tasks. Shortlist here, then decide with an eval — how to build one.