Gemini Image (Nano Banana) vs Recraft: pricing, features and which to choose

Gemini Image is Google’s hosted image generation and editing capability, available in the Gemini app, Google AI Studio, the Gemini API, and Vertex AI. Google introduced the original Nano Banana in 2025 as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, then introduced Nano Banana Pro on November 20, 2025. The current Gemini image page identifies Nano Banana 2.1 as the advanced consumer model, while Google’s developer documentation lists Nano Banana 2.1, Nano Banana 2 Lite, Nano Banana 2, Nano Banana Pro, and the original Nano Banana. Google does not publish a separate employee count or funding figure for this product. It is a managed service, not an isolated open model or self-hosted package.

The workflow is conversational. In Gemini, select Create images, write a prompt, or upload an image, then request changes in follow-up turns. Google highlights character consistency, reference-style transfer, photo combination, localized edits, camera and lighting changes, aspect-ratio changes, and text in multiple languages. The API accepts text and image content through the Interactions API, allowing applications to generate, edit, and iterate on images. Nano Banana Pro supports up to 14 input images and can preserve the resemblance of up to five people, according to Google’s launch material. Google embeds SynthID in generated images, and free and Google AI Pro outputs also receive a visible AI watermark.

Nano Banana has fewer production-management features than Adobe Firefly, Midjourney, or Freepik AI. Google exposes changing consumer quotas rather than a published unlimited-generation plan, model names differ between the Gemini app and developer products, and the API requires developers to handle their own application workflow. Adobe Firefly offers a broader Adobe-centered production workflow, Midjourney focuses on image creation through its own subscription service, and Freepik combines generation with stock assets and other media tools. Choose Nano Banana for conversational editing, reference composition, readable image text, Google Search grounding, or Google API access. Choose a competitor when asset libraries, team production controls, or a dedicated creative workspace matter more.

Recraft is an AI design platform founded in London by Anna Veronika Dorogush. Its launch year is reported as 2023, and the company said it had more than 4 million users in May 2025. Recraft raised a $30 million Series B led by Accel in May 2025, after a $12 million Series A in January 2024. The product serves designers, marketers, and product teams with raster generation, vector generation, brand styles, and editing. Recraft says teams at Amazon, NVIDIA, Salesforce, and Uber use it. The company does not publish a current employee count in the cited product materials. Recraft remains an active hosted service with web, mobile, and developer access, giving professional users one place to generate, refine, and export visual assets.

A normal project begins with a prompt on the canvas, then moves through style selection, reference images, editing, and export. Recraft supports raster and vector generation, text placement, background removal, inpainting, outpainting, erasing, mockups, image-to-image transformation, vectorization, and upscaling. Users can combine library styles with reference images, adjust style weights, save custom styles, and share styles with collaborators. The API exposes generation, editing, background removal, inpainting, outpainting, vectorization, upscaling, batch jobs, and asynchronous processing. Subscription credits support the hosted product, while prepaid API Units support developer requests. Those are separate balances, and the API provides programmatic access to Recraft models rather than access to outside models, so teams must track both billing systems independently.

Recraft's strongest case is production design requiring editable vectors, controlled text, and reusable brand styles. Midjourney is a closer fit for image-first exploration, while Ideogram is a direct alternative for typography-heavy graphics. Adobe Firefly is stronger for customers already working inside Creative Cloud. Recraft requires an online account, does not offer self-hosting, and free outputs cannot support commercial deliverables. Its API Units are prepaid, separate from subscription credits, and non-refundable except where law requires. Recraft should be picked by designers and teams that need brand consistency, vector output, text-rich layouts, and browser-based editing rather than an unlimited plan or local deployment. The main tradeoff is control and workflow integration instead of unlimited usage or local ownership of the service itself.