Nano Banana 2.1, 1,000 images: Sume row vs Google's standard and batch

A thousand Nano Banana 2.1 images at 2K cost $150 through Sume's catalog row ($0.15 each), $50.40 at Google's published Gemini API standard rate ($0.0504 each) and $25.20 at Google's batch rate ($0.0252 each), as read on 2026-10-09. The three numbers are different offers, not one price with a markup, so the useful question is what each one includes.

The numbers side by side

Google's pricing page states output image prices per image: standard $0.0336 (1K), $0.0504 (2K) and $0.113 (4K); batch $0.0168, $0.0252 and $0.0567. Sume's catalog lists nano-banana-2.1 at $0.075 (0.5K), $0.10 (1K), $0.15 (2K) and $0.20 (4K). Multiplying each by 1,000:

What the gap does and does not mean

Dividing the 4K row, Sume's $0.20 is 1.77 times Google's standard $0.113. That ratio is not Sume's margin: Sume prices each model from the provider list it actually calls, with a 1.25 multiplier, and the repo's price list does not claim to mirror Google's direct API table. Compare the offers on what you need, not on the ratio.

Reasons to pay the Sume row: one API and one wallet across image, video, audio and timeline jobs, the same job and webhook model for every model, and no separate Google billing set-up. Reasons to go direct: you only generate Gemini images and can use batch for non-urgent work, where Google's batch rate is half of its standard rate on every size.

• Google's page bases output on tokens: 1,120 tokens for a 1K image, at $30 per million (standard) or $15 per million (batch).
• The catalog entries I read do not describe a batch tier for this model.
• Re-read both pages before budgeting; neither price is frozen.

Worked example for 250 images

A smaller run shows the same pattern. Two hundred and fifty 1K images cost 250 x $0.10 = $25.00 on Sume's row, 250 x $0.0336 = $8.40 at Google's standard rate and 250 x $0.0168 = $4.20 at its batch rate. If your usage is that small, the absolute difference is $20.80 between the extremes, and the time you spend on a second vendor's billing and keys may cost more than that.

At 10,000 images a month at 2K the extremes are $1,500 on Sume against $504 and $252 at Google's standard and batch rates. At that volume it is worth asking whether you need the shared wallet and job model enough to pay for it.

Sources

Google's rates are from the Gemini API pricing page. Sume's are from the catalog; see also the image model docs.