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Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) vs Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview

Neither wins outright: Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) is the pick when cost matters at scale, Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview when you want the newer model.

Key numbers

SpecGoogle: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview
ProviderGoogleMoondream
Input price (per 1M tokens)$0.25$0.30
Output price (per 1M tokens)$1.50$2.50
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$0.56$0.85
Cheaper than … of all models we track51%43%
Context window66K tokens (~98 pages)32K tokens (~48 pages)
Larger context than … of all models11%5%
Max output per response59K tokens (~44,200 words)4K tokens (~3,100 words)
Input typesimage, texttext, image
Output typesimage, texttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2026-06-302026-10-15

What it costs for real workloads

Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.

Workload (per month)Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)Moondream: Moondream 3 PreviewDifference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$48.75$72.50Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) saves $23.75
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$45.00$61.00Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) saves $16.00
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens)
Doesn't fit contextDoesn't fit context—
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$29.00$39.00Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) saves $10.00
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
Doesn't fit contextDoesn't fit context—

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityGoogle: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image)Moondream: Moondream 3 PreviewWhat it lets you do
Tool / function calling——call your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)✓ Yes—return JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode✓ Yes✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input✓ Yes✓ Yesread screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input——take speech or audio directly
File / PDF input——accept documents without your own parsing step
Image output✓ Yes—generate images, not just text
Built-in web search✓ Yes—answer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)✓ Yes—repeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities——read token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

Which should you choose?

Choose Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 34% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($48.75 vs $72.50 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need to fit long inputs in one request — 66K tokens is roughly 98 pages, against 48
  • you need structured output (JSON schema) — to return JSON that validates against your schema; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview does not advertise it
  • you need image output — to generate images, not just text; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview does not advertise it
  • you need built-in web search — to answer from live web results; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview does not advertise it
  • you need seed (reproducible sampling) — to repeat a generation for tests and evals; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview does not advertise it
  • you generate long outputs in one go — up to 59K tokens (about 44,200 words) per response

Choose Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview if…

  • you want the newer model — released 2026-10-15, 4 months after the other

Frequently asked questions

Is Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) better than Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview?

Neither wins outright: Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) is the pick when cost matters at scale, Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview when you want the newer model. In short: Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) when cost matters at scale, you need to fit long inputs in one request, you need structured output (JSON schema), you need image output, you need built-in web search, you need seed (reproducible sampling), you generate long outputs in one go; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview when you want the newer model.

Which is cheaper, Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) or Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview?

Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) is cheaper: $0.56 vs $0.85 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 34% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $48.75 against $72.50.

How much do Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) and Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview cost per million tokens?

Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $1.50 per 1M output tokens; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview costs $0.30 input and $2.50 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

Which has the bigger context window, Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) or Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview?

Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image): 66K tokens, about 98 pages, against 32K (about 48 pages) for Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview.

Do Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) and Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image): not advertised, Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview: not advertised. JSON-schema structured output — Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image): yes, Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview: not advertised.

Can Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) or Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview read images?

Yes, both accept image input.

Is Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) or Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview free to use?

No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.

What is the maximum output length of Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) and Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview?

Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) can write up to 59K tokens (about 44,200 words) per response; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview up to 4K (about 3,100 words).

When were Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) and Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview released?

Google: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) was listed on 2026-06-30; Moondream: Moondream 3 Preview on 2026-10-15.

About the two models

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