Image upscale $0.20 vs regenerating on Nano Banana 2.1 at 2K or 4K
Sume's image upscale is $0.20 per image; a Nano Banana 2.1 regeneration is $0.15 at 2K or $0.20 at 4K, but it makes a new picture. Table and 500-image totals.
Upscaling an existing picture on Sume costs $0.20 per image, whatever its size. Regenerating the same idea with Nano Banana 2.1 costs $0.15 at 2K and $0.20 at 4K. So the price gap is small, and the real difference is that upscaling keeps your original pixels' content while regeneration produces a new image. For 500 images that is $100.00 for upscale, $75.00 for 2K regeneration and $100.00 for 4K regeneration, before the 5.5% fee ($105.50 and $79.13).
Price table
| Route | Per image | 500 images | With 5.5% fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image upscale | $0.20 | $100.00 | $105.50 |
| Nano Banana 2.1 at 2K | $0.15 | $75.00 | $79.13 |
| Nano Banana 2.1 at 4K | $0.20 | $100.00 | $105.50 |
| Nano Banana 2.1 at 1K | $0.10 | $50.00 | $52.75 |
The arithmetic
The upscale constant in the repo is a $0.16 provider list price, with Sume's x1.25 giving $0.20 (the reservation assumes about 16 megapixels of output). Nano Banana 2.1 prices are the catalog values $0.10, $0.15 and $0.20 for 1K, 2K and 4K, which already include the x1.25.
Per 500 images: 500 x $0.20 = $100.00 for the upscale and 4K routes, 500 x $0.15 = $75.00 at 2K. The 2K route saves $25.00 per 500, or 5 cents per image, and 4K buys the same price as upscaling.
Which to choose
Use upscale when the picture is approved and only the size has to change: a logo lockup, a product shot a client signed off, a frame from a campaign. Use regeneration when the idea is still open, since a prompt at a higher size can change composition, text and faces. If you only need more pixels for print, upscale; if you are still exploring, regenerate at 1K ($0.10) and upscale the winners.
Steps
- Generate drafts at 1K, $0.10 each.
- Pick winners and upscale only those at $0.20.
- Compare the cost of the pair ($0.30) with a direct 4K regeneration ($0.20) when the winner is not locked.
- Check
usage.coston each job.
A worked catalog example
Take a 300-image catalog refresh where 60 images are approved and 240 are drafts. Drafts at 1K cost 240 x $0.10 = $24.00. Upscaling the 60 winners costs 60 x $0.20 = $12.00. The total is $36.00, or $37.98 with the 5.5% fee. Generating all 300 directly at 4K would cost 300 x $0.20 = $60.00, which is $24.00 more and also spends 4K prices on 240 images you will discard.
The two-stage route only works if the upscale keeps what you approved. That is the reason to choose upscale for signed-off images and regeneration for open ideas.
One image, three routes
For a single image the three routes are $0.20 (upscale), $0.15 (2K regeneration) and $0.20 (4K regeneration). Two images cost $0.40, $0.30 and $0.40. Because the unit prices are close, decide on whether the picture must stay as approved, and let the few cents decide only between 2K and the other two.
What Sume does not do
Sume does not give a public docs page for the image upscale price, so the $0.20 comes from the pricing constants in the repo read on 2026-10-08. It does not promise that a 4K regeneration matches an earlier 2K picture.
Sources
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