Midjourney V8.2 vs Nano Banana 2 (2026): Which AI Model Is Better?
Both are popular image models. Here is how Midjourney V8.2 and Nano Banana 2 stack up on price, strengths and weaknesses, and which one we would pick.
Midjourney V8.2
Midjourney's own image model, known for aesthetics and personalization, now in V8.2
8.5 /10
Pricing: Paid from $10/mo
Pros
- Distinctive aesthetic quality and style control (style references, moodboards, personalization)
- V8.1 HD renders at four times the resolution of V7
- Fast: about 4 seconds per image in standard definition
- V8.2 edit model supports instruction edits, inpainting and up to 4 image references
Cons
- Only usable inside Midjourney; no official public API
- No free trial
- Text rendering improved but is not its main strength
- Midjourney faces a copyright lawsuit from Disney and Universal (filed June 2025)
Nano Banana 2
Google's Gemini image models (Nano Banana 2, Pro and 2 Lite) for generation and editing up to 4K
9.0 /10
Pricing: Free plan, paid from $4.99/mo
Pros
- 512px to 4K output in many aspect ratios
- Keeps up to 5 characters and 14 objects consistent across images
- Uses web search for accurate real-world subjects
- Free in the Gemini app and at zero credits in Flow; SynthID plus C2PA on outputs
Cons
- Around $0.067 per 1K image on the API (third-party estimate), more than Imagen 4 was
- Several versions with similar names (Nano Banana, 2, Pro, 2 Lite) make app menus confusing
- The original Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) shuts down on 2 October 2026
- Closed model with Google content filters
Midjourney V8.2 vs Nano Banana 2 at a glance
| Midjourney V8.2 | Nano Banana 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Editor score | 8.5 / 10 | 9.0 / 10 |
| Pricing model | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | $10/mo | $4.99/mo |
| Reader upvotes | 0 | 0 |
| Best for | image-generation, midjourney, aesthetics | image-generation, google, gemini |
| Makes | Images & illustrations, Thumbnails & covers, Logos & branding | Images & illustrations, Product photos, Thumbnails & covers, Social media posts |
| Maker | Midjourney | Google DeepMind |
| Latest release | 2026-07 | 2026-02 |
| Apps offering it | 2 | 30 |
Our pick
Nano Banana 2 edges it with a score of 9.0 versus 8.5. Nano Banana 2 is the better fit if you value: 512px to 4k output in many aspect ratios, keeps up to 5 characters and 14 objects consistent across images. Choose Midjourney V8.2 instead if you need: distinctive aesthetic quality and style control (style references, moodboards, personalization), v8.1 hd renders at four times the resolution of v7.
Other image models to consider
Full ranking →GPT Image 2.5 🧠 ModelFreemium
OpenAI's image model behind ChatGPT Images, with 4K output and up to 16 reference images
FLUX.2 🧠 ModelOpen source
Black Forest Labs' FLUX.2 family: hosted [max]/[pro]/[flex] plus open-weight [dev] and [klein]
Seedream 5.0 Pro 🧠 ModelFreemium
ByteDance's Seedream image models, used in CapCut, Dreamina and many creative apps
Ideogram 4.0 🧠 ModelOpen source
Ideogram's text-rendering image model with JSON prompting, now also as non-commercial open weights