By task

Which AI is best for making pictures?

Our editorial best pick: Nano Banana 2.1; free option: Gemini Free.

Last updated October 16, 2026.

Costs here use the prices AI companies charge software developers, so they show relative cost, not your monthly bill. See what ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini charge you.

Picks are editorial judgments from the makers' descriptions, price and our smartness rating. We have not run our own tests yet.

Best pick

Nano Banana 2.1

The only image-creation model we track so far, so this is a thin list. Image costs are billed separately and not shown here.

Made by Google, the company behind Gemini.
Smartness: Not rated yet
Reads at once: about 100 pages
Billed per image; text costs not shown.

Budget pick

We do not track a cheaper image model yet.

Free option

Gemini app with the lightest model, image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live, 15 GB storage.

Standard usage; no numbers published.
Checked 2026-10-16; free plans can change. See every app's free plan.