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Nano Banana Provs.MAI-Image-2.5 Flash

Which one is better?

In our own test both are on par. MAI-Image-2.5 Flash has no arena rating yet. Nano Banana Pro costs 6.7 times as much per image.

Test images

Same task, the first image of each. The task with the biggest difference is preselected.

Nano Banana Pro: Character and detail, first image from the fixed test run
Nano Banana Pro37 out of 100
MAI-Image-2.5 Flash: Character and detail, first image from the fixed test run
MAI-Image-2.5 Flash68 out of 100

Result for “Character and detail”:MAI-Image-2.5 Flash slightly ahead

Prompt given to both modelsCreate a square cinematic full-body portrait of a fictional bicycle courier waiting under a transparent umbrella at a rainy tram stop in Hamburg at blue hour. She wears a mustard raincoat, navy trousers, red sneakers, a silver helmet, and carries a teal messenger bag. Keep both hands visible, render the bicycle correctly, use realistic wet-street reflections, and include no readable brand names.

What the rating looks at: Anatomy, clothing, and spatial consistency.

“Ahead”: better in all three rating rounds. “Slightly ahead”: a higher value, but not in every round.

Test protocol of the images

Each test attempt uses the same archived prompt and one request. The first output of that attempt counts. Repeats after technical test failures are disclosed for the affected images. Files are normalized to 1,024 × 1,024 pixels without cropping. Provider resolution, randomness, quality tier and prompt processing can still differ. The images are a practical visual test, not a reconstruction of the arena configuration.

Character and detail

Nano Banana Pro: together, 1024x1024, n=1, seed=provider random, provider default steps, generated Aug 14, 2026, 12:20 PM. Source

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash: manual, Official Bing Image Creator web app; MAI-Image-2.5-Flash; one request; 1:1; first result; free guest generation; 2026-08-14; https://www.bing.com/images/create/ai-image-generator, generated Aug 14, 2026, 4:23 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: 985a75b38642a9f0e5e0c0e0c67f1b7f67780d42bd2168fa24e9a7a7a94b0da6

Nano Banana Pro image SHA 256: eed53dcc080d2710e6e890382f6273382a12e2c5b079b8813962bff0c92b5df7

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash image SHA 256: a2637943faf5ae5210c69f645f96c70ea0a1d267c38a64705810947d2ba78dc8

Infographic

Nano Banana Pro: together, 1024x1024, n=1, seed=provider random, provider default steps, generated Aug 14, 2026, 12:20 PM. Source

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash: manual, Official Bing Image Creator web app; MAI-Image-2.5-Flash; one request; 1:1; first result; free guest generation; 2026-08-14; https://www.bing.com/images/create/ai-image-generator, generated Aug 14, 2026, 4:23 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: ed65cb4e6a51e2336f8b149ad4cbb16e020f07d527ad94362e719d2dcf91d94f

Nano Banana Pro image SHA 256: 4ff7d3965d18e197f00647c35d6aed5a86a376c92779ee9e748c598aebafa51d

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash image SHA 256: 6af00e502934a24a9e535b3f72d9b1ca545a984fc463e785ffe796a700e015b3

Product photography

Nano Banana Pro: together, 1024x1024, n=1, seed=provider random, provider default steps, generated Aug 14, 2026, 12:19 PM. Source

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash: manual, Official Bing Image Creator web app; MAI-Image-2.5-Flash; one request; 1:1; first result; free guest generation; 2026-08-14; https://www.bing.com/images/create/ai-image-generator, generated Aug 14, 2026, 4:23 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: c67fd71e91304458a2feef5c91efa8677260fab0c0099a29a2c52cb579f5b2f3

Nano Banana Pro image SHA 256: d50770f426cac7920c9ffdaf210db2f11cdc51a8cf0b7ef52e6cd26850b1de70

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash image SHA 256: 9cb652604f7c64d8ebaa4303e924155a1f45581a940045be12775419e635bd8f

Typography and layout

Nano Banana Pro: together, 1024x1024, n=1, seed=provider random, provider default steps, generated Aug 14, 2026, 2:00 PM. Source

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash: manual, Official Bing Image Creator web app; MAI-Image-2.5-Flash; one request; 1:1; first result; free guest generation; 2026-08-14; https://www.bing.com/images/create/ai-image-generator, generated Aug 14, 2026, 4:22 PM. Source

Protocol gradually-image-comparison-v1. Prompt SHA 256: 2e012c3d14ee5dd02203a94f394ca80a5038cdebd6032b25a8b8a221f2255419

Nano Banana Pro image SHA 256: fc173de00b0df04772321167cfeabb55418d3d016081e7ebfb589c69a629b712

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash image SHA 256: 185a852b71d68ea37a41091b57f3ec02829b2d1e87fd1045939ffa0f8e4c3cf8

The numbers at a glance

Arena ratingfrom votes by users · higher is better
1,246

Nano Banana Pro

Rank 12 of 21

n/a

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash

not in the arena

GraduallyBenchour own rating, 0 to 100 · higher is better
66

Nano Banana Pro

Rank 35 of 108

69

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash

Rank 24 of 108

Price per imagedollars through the API · lower is better
$0.13

Nano Banana Pro

expensive

$0.02

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash

cheap

Ranks among the 21 image models with an arena rating and the 108 with a GraduallyBench run; prices compared with 28 models with an API price.

Nano Banana Pro

Subscription
At Google from €4.99 a month (Google AI Plus, with limited credits). Through other providers from ≈ €6.36 a month (ElevenLabs Starter, with limited credits). 79 plans in Germany.
Via API
$0.13 per image, 100 images $13.40.

MAI-Image-2.5 Flash

Subscription
n/a No plan in Germany names exactly this model.
Via API
$0.02 per image, 100 images $2.

Subscriptions only count plans that name exactly this model. Subscription prices include VAT, API prices are in dollars.

Arena rating (LMArena) from Nov 6, 2026 · GraduallyBench from Nov 3, 2026 · API prices from Nov 6, 2026 · Subscription database from Sep 29, 2026 (38 days old)

All data side by side

The better value is bold. For ratings only when the gap is clear.

KennzahlNano Banana ProMAI-Image-2.5 Flash
Ratings
Arena ratingfrom votes by users, higher is better1,246n/a
Arena rankRank 12 of 21n/a
Arena votesmore votes, a safer rating191,257n/a
GraduallyBenchour own rating, 0 to 1006669
GraduallyBench by task
Typography and layoutLegible text, hierarchy, and composition9270
Product photographyMaterials, reflections, and fine details7058
Character and detailAnatomy, clothing, and spatial consistency3768
InfographicNumbers, labels, and visual organization6581
API price
Per imagelower is better$0.13$0.02
100 images$13.40$2
Profile
ReleasedNovember 2025June 2026
Weightsopen means: runs locallyproprietaryproprietary
Lifecycleno noticePreview in Microsoft Foundry
AccessAPI, Web appAPI, Web app
Parametersnot published20 billion
Largest output4K1,048,576 pixels
Plans in Germanynaming exactly this model79n/a

API prices for one image at 1,024 × 1,024 pixels according to Artificial Analysis.

Sources: Nano Banana Pro model source (verified Aug 15, 2026) · MAI-Image-2.5 Flash model source, status source (verified Sep 22, 2026)

Arena ratings by category

From blind votes on LMArena. “Ahead” means the lead is clear.

Arena rating per categoryfrom votes by users · higher is betterNano Banana ProMAI-Image-2.5 Flash
Text to Image ArenaNano Banana Pro: 1,119MAI-Image-2.5 Flash: 1,032Nano Banana Pro ahead
Image Editing ArenaNano Banana Pro: 1,109MAI-Image-2.5 Flash: 1,089level

Artificial Analysis from Nov 6, 2026

All individual values with sources
RatingNano Banana ProMAI-Image-2.5 FlashSource
Text to Image Arena1,1191,032Artificial AnalysisRetrieved Nov 6, 2026
Image Editing Arena1,1091,089Artificial AnalysisRetrieved Nov 6, 2026

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