The official Nano Banana 2 release date is February 26, 2026. Google announced it that day in a consumer launch post, a developer launch post and a Gemini API release note that reads "Launched Nano Banana 2, Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview". The preview ID was gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview; the stable ID gemini-3.1-flash-image reached general availability (GA) on May 28, 2026.
Nano Banana 2 is no longer Google's current model. On October 6, 2026 Google released Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1) as GA, described in the same release notes as "an update to Nano Banana 2". The same entry deprecates gemini-3.1-flash-image, and the Gemini API deprecations table lists it as "No shutdown date announced" with gemini-nano-banana-2.1 as the replacement. Google's note briefly gave October 29, 2026 as a shutdown date on October 6 and withdrew it on October 7, so that date no longer applies.
What that means in practice, as of October 9, 2026:
- Citing a date: Nano Banana 2 launched February 26, 2026 (preview) and went GA May 28, 2026. Nano Banana 2.1 launched October 6, 2026.
- New API work: use
gemini-nano-banana-2.1. Nano Banana 2 still answers calls, but it is deprecated (no shutdown date announced), and Google tells you to migrate. - Existing Nano Banana 2 code: keep running it only knowing a shutdown date can be added later. Nano Banana 2.1 Is Out: Access, API Pricing and Moving Off Nano Banana 2 covers the migration steps and prices.
- Gemini app: Google's app pages still described Nano Banana 2 as the app's image model on October 8, 2026, while 2.1 rolls out; Google hasn't said whether 2.1 replaces it in the app.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| What is the official Nano Banana 2 release date? | February 26, 2026 (preview); GA on May 28, 2026 |
| Which model ID is Nano Banana 2? | gemini-3.1-flash-image (preview ID gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview, shut down June 25, 2026) |
| What is Nano Banana 2's status now? | Deprecated (no shutdown date announced); Google's replacement is Nano Banana 2.1 |
| What is the current Nano Banana model? | Nano Banana 2.1, gemini-nano-banana-2.1, GA since October 6, 2026 |
| Is there a Nano Banana Pro 2, 2.5, 3 or 4? | No. None appears in Google's release notes, model pages or deprecations table |
Nano Banana 2 official release date: February 26, 2026
Google's official release date announcement for Nano Banana 2 came on February 26, 2026, through three channels at once: the consumer post on blog.google, the developer post "Build with Nano Banana 2", and the Gemini API release notes. The release note calls it "Gemini 3.1 Flash Image Preview, a high-efficiency model optimized for speed and high-volume use cases". So "Nano Banana 2" and "Gemini 3.1 Flash Image" are the same model: the first is the product name, the second is the model family name developers see in the docs.
If you read coverage from China or other UTC+8 regions, the date is given as February 27, 2026. That is the same announcement, which landed in the early hours of February 27 Beijing time. For English-language documentation, February 26, 2026 is the date to use.
The February release was a preview. Three later dates complete the Nano Banana 2 story:
- May 28, 2026:
gemini-3.1-flash-image(Nano Banana 2) andgemini-3-pro-image(Nano Banana Pro) reached GA. The same release note added video-to-image generation, which lets you pass a video file or public YouTube URL as context, and says that feature "is supported exclusively on the gemini-3.1-flash-image model". - June 25, 2026: the preview IDs
gemini-3.1-flash-image-previewandgemini-3-pro-image-previewwere shut down. Code that still used them stopped working on that date. - October 6, 2026: Nano Banana 2.1 released; Nano Banana 2 deprecated.
So when someone asks "when did Nano Banana 2 come out?", the full answer is: announced and available in preview on February 26, 2026; stable in the API from May 28, 2026; superseded by Nano Banana 2.1 on October 6, 2026.
Nano Banana 2 status now: deprecated, replaced by Nano Banana 2.1
As of October 9, 2026, Nano Banana 2 is a deprecated model, not Google's current one. The Gemini API release note for October 6, 2026 reads: "The gemini-3.1-flash-image model is deprecated (no shutdown date announced). Migrate to gemini-nano-banana-2.1." When the note first appeared on October 6 it said the model "will be shut down on October 29, 2026"; Google revised the entry on October 7 and removed the date. If you saw October 29 anywhere, that date was withdrawn.
Deprecated means three things here:
- It still works.
gemini-3.1-flash-imagecontinues to accept requests, and the deprecations table shows no shutdown date. - It can get a date at any time. Google's earlier image previews got about four weeks of notice (announced May 28, shut down June 25). Plan the migration before a date appears rather than after.
- Only Nano Banana 2 is affected. Nano Banana 2 Lite (
gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image) and Nano Banana Pro (gemini-3-pro-image) are listed with no shutdown date and no replacement.
The replacement, Nano Banana 2.1, is a Flash-class model like Nano Banana 2. Google's release note says it "maintains Flash-level speed and cost efficiency" and improves visual quality, prompt adherence, multi-turn character consistency, text rendering, and wide and panoramic aspect ratios (1:4, 4:1, 1:8, 8:1) at 1K, 2K and 4K. The model page lists it as Stable, taking text, image, video and PDF input, with a 131,072-token input limit, a 32,768-token output limit, Search grounding and configurable thinking (minimal, medium by default, or high). On Google Cloud, the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform page lists it as GA with a release date of October 6, 2026 on the global endpoint.
Where each version stands by surface, as of October 9, 2026:
| Surface | Nano Banana 2 | Nano Banana 2.1 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini API | gemini-3.1-flash-image, deprecated (no shutdown date announced) | gemini-nano-banana-2.1, GA since October 6, 2026 | Release notes, deprecations table |
| Google Cloud (Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform) | Listed as a Gemini 3.1 Flash Image model | GA, release date October 6, 2026, global endpoint | Model page |
| Gemini app | Google's app pages still said "Nano Banana 2 is here" on October 8, 2026; the app release notes had no 2.1 entry (newest: September 30) | Announced as rolling out; per-plan limits not published | Gemini app release notes, Google on X |
| AI Mode in Search | — | Available by tapping the banana icon under the Search box, per Google's Robby Stein | Post on X |
| Google Flow | — | Appeared in Flow's model picker from October 5, 2026 | TestingCatalog |
Two things Google hasn't published as of October 9, 2026: Gemini app limits per plan for 2.1 (and whether free users get it everywhere), and whether 2.1 replaces Nano Banana 2 inside the app. Google also hasn't put out a blog.google post for 2.1; the announcement lives in the release notes, model pages and Google's X account. Treat any page that gives you app quotas for 2.1 as a guess until Google's Gemini Apps limits page lists them.
Nano Banana version map: every release date and model ID
Five named versions have shipped. The table gives the public launch date, the GA date where it differs, the stable model ID and the lifecycle status shown on Google's deprecations table on October 9, 2026.
| Version | Public launch | API GA | Stable model ID | Status (October 9, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) | August 26, 2025 | October 2, 2025 | gemini-2.5-flash-image | Shutdown scheduled March 15, 2027; replacement gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image |
| Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image) | November 20, 2025 (preview) | May 28, 2026 | gemini-3-pro-image | Stable, no shutdown date announced |
| Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) | February 26, 2026 (preview) | May 28, 2026 | gemini-3.1-flash-image | Deprecated (no shutdown date announced); replacement gemini-nano-banana-2.1 |
| Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image) | June 30, 2026 | June 30, 2026 | gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image | Stable, no shutdown date announced |
| Nano Banana 2.1 | October 6, 2026 | October 6, 2026 | gemini-nano-banana-2.1 | Current; stable, no shutdown date announced |
Retired preview IDs, for anyone maintaining old code: gemini-2.5-flash-image-preview shut down January 15, 2026; gemini-3-pro-image-preview and gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview shut down June 25, 2026. Google's table names gemini-nano-banana-2.1 as the replacement for the Flash previews and gemini-3-pro-image for the Pro preview.
Two patterns in the map are worth knowing. First, Nano Banana Pro and Nano Banana 2 both arrived as previews and went GA months later, with the preview IDs shut down about a month after GA; Nano Banana 2 Lite and 2.1 launched as GA on day one, so there is no preview ID to retire for either. Second, the Flash lane moves fastest: Nano Banana (August 2025), 2 (February 2026), 2 Lite (June 2026), 2.1 (October 2026), while Pro has had a single release. If you are choosing between the lanes rather than tracking dates, Nano Banana 2 vs Pro: Which Should Be Your Default? and Gemini Image Models in 2026: Lite, Nano Banana 2, or Pro? make that comparison.
Nano Banana Pro 2, 2.5, 3 or 4 release date: none has been announced
Google has announced no Nano Banana Pro 2, Nano Banana 3 or Nano Banana 4. None of those names appears in the Gemini API release notes, the model pages or the deprecations table as of October 9, 2026, and Google has given no roadmap for them. Any release date you see for those versions is a guess.
The searches for them usually trace back to one of three real things:
- "Nano Banana 2 Pro" or "Nano Banana Pro 2" most often means Nano Banana Pro, which launched November 20, 2025 as
gemini-3-pro-image-previewand went GA May 28, 2026 asgemini-3-pro-image. Pro is the higher-quality, higher-priced lane; it is not a "Pro edition" of Nano Banana 2 and has had no second version. - "Nano Banana 2.5" was a leaked label, not a product. On September 27, 2026 TestingCatalog reported that a Google Flow web build's label had changed from "Nano Banana 2.5 Flash" to "Nano Banana 2.1". The model shipped nine days later as 2.1. There is no 2.5.
- "The next Nano Banana update" is, right now, Nano Banana 2.1 on October 6, 2026. The Gemini API release notes are where the next one will appear first; Google published 2.1 there before any blog post.
If a future version is announced, the release notes entry will carry a model ID. A name without an ID is not a release.
Which Nano Banana date is which: November 2025, February 2026, October 2026
Several dates circulate for Nano Banana 2, and most of them are real dates attached to the wrong event. Here is what each one refers to.
| Date you may see | What it actually is | Use it for Nano Banana 2? |
|---|---|---|
| August 26, 2025 | The original Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) arriving in the Gemini app | No. That is version 1 |
| November 2025 (often November 20) | Nano Banana Pro's preview launch, gemini-3-pro-image-preview; late-2025 forum threads asking when Nano Banana 2 would ship date from the same weeks | No. Nano Banana 2 did not launch in November 2025 |
| February 26, 2026 | Nano Banana 2 announced and available in preview | Yes. This is the official release date |
| February 27, 2026 | The same announcement in Beijing time (UTC+8) | Yes, if you write for a UTC+8 audience; otherwise use February 26 |
| May 28, 2026 | Nano Banana 2 and Pro reach GA with stable IDs | Yes, as the GA date |
| June 25, 2026 | Preview IDs for Nano Banana 2 and Pro shut down | Only in migration notes |
| October 6, 2026 | Nano Banana 2.1 released; Nano Banana 2 deprecated | Yes, as the date Nano Banana 2 stopped being current |
| October 29, 2026 | A shutdown date Google published on October 6 and withdrew on October 7 | No. There is no shutdown date |
| March 15, 2027 | Shutdown date for the original gemini-2.5-flash-image, not Nano Banana 2 | No |
The one date that most often gets attached to Nano Banana 2 wrongly is November 2025. The confusion is understandable: Nano Banana 2 was expected and widely discussed then, and Nano Banana Pro launched in the middle of that discussion. But Google's first release-notes entry for Nano Banana 2 is dated February 26, 2026, and nothing earlier carries that name.
Which date and model name to use in docs, code and product notes
Different documents need different parts of the map. The safe defaults:
- Writing about the Nano Banana 2 launch: "Nano Banana 2 (Gemini 3.1 Flash Image) was released by Google on February 26, 2026 and reached general availability in the Gemini API on May 28, 2026."
- Describing Nano Banana 2 today: "Nano Banana 2 (
gemini-3.1-flash-image) is deprecated (no shutdown date announced); Google's replacement is Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1, released October 6, 2026)." Avoid calling Nano Banana 2 "latest" or "current". - Code, configs and migration tickets: reference
gemini-nano-banana-2.1for new work. If you must document the old ID, writegemini-3.1-flash-image(GA May 28, 2026), not the-previewID, which stopped working June 25, 2026. - Comparisons with Nano Banana Pro: "Nano Banana Pro launched November 20, 2025 (GA May 28, 2026); Nano Banana 2 launched February 26, 2026 (GA May 28, 2026); Nano Banana 2.1 launched October 6, 2026."
- Pricing or free-tier questions: keep them out of a release-date note; they change on their own schedule. Is Nano Banana 2 Free? Gemini, AI Studio, and API Answer (2026) handles the app and API side, and the 2.1 article above has the current API prices.
Whatever you write, re-read Google's deprecations table before publishing. A shutdown date for gemini-3.1-flash-image can appear there without a blog post, and that single row would change the "no shutdown date announced" wording used throughout this map.
Nano Banana 2 release questions, answered briefly
Has Nano Banana 2 been released?
Yes. Google released Nano Banana 2 on February 26, 2026 as a preview and made it generally available on May 28, 2026. Since October 6, 2026 it has been superseded by Nano Banana 2.1 and marked deprecated, so if you are starting new work today, 2.1 is the model Google points you to.
What is Nano Banana 2?
Nano Banana 2 is Google's product name for the Gemini 3.1 Flash Image model, an image generation and editing model in the Gemini family built for speed and high-volume use. In the API it is gemini-3.1-flash-image. It sits between the cheaper Nano Banana 2 Lite and the higher-quality Nano Banana Pro, and it has been succeeded by Nano Banana 2.1. For the broader product picture, see Nano Banana AI Image Generator: Official 2026 Guide.
Is Nano Banana 2 free?
Not in the Gemini API, where every image is billed. In the Gemini app, Google's pages still presented Nano Banana 2 as the image model on October 8, 2026, with limits that depend on your plan; Google hasn't published the plan limits for Nano Banana 2.1 yet. The linked free-tier article tracks the app and AI Studio details.
Where is Nano Banana 2 available?
Through the Gemini API and Google AI Studio as gemini-3.1-flash-image (deprecated), through Google Cloud's Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, and in the Gemini app, where Google's pages still named it on October 8, 2026. Nano Banana 2.1 is available in the Gemini API, on Google Cloud, in Google Flow's model picker and in AI Mode in Search, and Google says it is rolling out to the Gemini app.
Is Nano Banana 2 the same as Gemini 3.1 Flash Image?
Yes. "Nano Banana 2" is the product name and "Gemini 3.1 Flash Image" is the model name; Google's release note for February 26, 2026 uses both in one sentence. Likewise, Nano Banana Pro is Gemini 3 Pro Image and the original Nano Banana is Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. Nano Banana 2.1 is the first version whose model ID uses the product name directly: gemini-nano-banana-2.1.
Is banana.dev related to Nano Banana?
No. banana.dev is an unrelated company that offered serverless GPU hosting; it has nothing to do with Google's Nano Banana models, and its status isn't covered here.
