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AI image model comparison

MiniMax H3 Image vs Nano Banana 2.1

MiniMax H3 Image is MiniMax's open-weights image model, released on November 10, 2026, and Arena has not ranked it yet. On Mage it renders up to 4K, as Nano Banana 2.1 does, takes up to 16 input images against 14, costs fewer Gems, and runs unlimited from the Pro plan, against the Pro Plus plan for Nano Banana 2.1. Nano Banana 2.1 ranks seventh on Arena's text-to-image board, reaches panoramas up to 8:1, and can ground images in Google Search.

Try MiniMax H3 ImageTry Nano Banana 2.1

Side by side

Prices, plans, resolutions, ratios, and reference limits are Mage's own, for the model compared. Makers, release dates, search grounding, and watermarks are what each maker publishes. Arena ranks come from its text-to-image and text-rendering and image-edit boards of November 7, 2026. Arena ranks each open-weights model as Arena runs it, not as Mage hosts it. "Not ranked" means the board does not list the version Mage runs.

MiniMax H3 ImageNano Banana 2.1
Made byMiniMax SourceGoogle Source
Where it runsOpen weights, hosted on Mage's GPUsRun by Google, reached through Mage
ReleasedNovember 10, 2026 SourceOctober 6, 2026 Source
Price on Mage, from15 Gems ($0.015) per image51 Gems ($0.051) per image
Unlimited on Mage fromProPro Plus
Top resolution on Mage4K4K
Aspect ratios on Mage21:9, 16:9, 3:2, 5:4, 1:1, 4:5, 2:3, 9:16, 9:211:1, 3:2, 2:3, 3:4, 4:1, 4:3, 4:5, 5:4, 8:1, 9:16, 16:9, 21:9
Reference images on Mage, up to1614
Search groundingNone documented SourceYes, Google Web and Image Search Source
Arena text-to-imageNot ranked Source#7 of 84 (preliminary) Source
Arena text renderingNot ranked Source#7 of 84 (preliminary) Source
Arena image editNot ranked Source#9 of 63 (preliminary) Source
WatermarkNone stated SourceSynthID on every image Source

Last checked November 2026

Which should you use?

Choose MiniMax H3 Image for

  • Edits that combine up to 16 reference images
  • Photorealism without the usual AI look, which MiniMax built it for
  • A lower price: 15 Gems an image on Mage
  • Unlimited images from the Pro plan

Choose Nano Banana 2.1 for

  • A model with independent rankings: it is on every Arena board we checked
  • Panoramas and banners up to 8:1
  • Pictures of real places, products, and events, grounded in Google Search

Image quality

Arena's text-to-image, text-rendering, and image-edit boards of November 7, 2026, do not list MiniMax H3 Image yet, so there are no blind votes to set against Nano Banana 2.1's. There, Nano Banana 2.1 ranks seventh of 84 for text-to-image and ninth of 63 for image editing, on scores still marked preliminary.

MiniMax released MiniMax H3 Image on November 10, 2026 and says it goes beyond the familiar "AI look", with intricate detail and lifelike realism. It also calls its instruction following the strongest among open-source models. Both are the maker's own claims, not independent votes. Google built Nano Banana 2.1 as a high-efficiency workhorse at Flash speed and cost.

Text in images

MiniMax's showcase for MiniMax H3 Image includes text with reasoning behind it: logic puzzles in Chinese and in English, worked through and solved on the board. Arena's text-rendering board does not list MiniMax H3 Image yet, so there is no independent score for its lettering. Nano Banana 2.1 ranks seventh on Arena's text-rendering board.

Edits and reference images

MiniMax H3 Image makes and edits images in the same model, and on Mage it takes up to 16 input images at once. MiniMax's own showcase composes an empty room and a set of furniture pieces, each its own reference image, into one furnished living room, and turns an untextured grey render of a scene into a photographic film still.

Nano Banana 2.1 takes up to 14 reference images on Mage, which Google splits into objects held at high fidelity and characters kept consistent.

Resolution and shape

MiniMax built MiniMax H3 Image to render its full size directly, with no upscaler, at about the same pixel count in every aspect ratio. On Mage that full size is 4K, and 2K is there for quicker drafts.

Nano Banana 2.1 also renders up to 4K on Mage, in 12 aspect ratios that include 4:1 and 8:1 panoramas. MiniMax H3 Image has 9, from 9:21 to 21:9.

Price on Mage

MiniMax H3 Image starts at 15 Gems (about $0.015) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Pro plan. Nano Banana 2.1 starts at 51 Gems (about $0.051) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Pro Plus plan.

MiniMax H3 Image's starting price and unlimited plan are for 2K: 4K images cost more Gems and run unlimited from a higher plan, and each input image you attach adds to the price.

A little more clarity

Questions

Is MiniMax H3 Image better than Nano Banana 2.1?
There is no independent vote yet: Arena has not ranked MiniMax H3 Image. On Mage, MiniMax H3 Image matches Nano Banana 2.1's 4K output, takes more input images, costs fewer Gems, and runs unlimited from the Pro plan. Nano Banana 2.1 ranks seventh on Arena's text-to-image board and is the pick for panoramas and pictures grounded in Google Search. Run the same prompt on both on Mage and keep the better image.
Is MiniMax H3 Image on Arena?
Not yet. Arena's text-to-image, text-rendering, and image-edit boards of November 7, 2026, do not list MiniMax H3 Image, which MiniMax released on November 10, 2026. Nano Banana 2.1 is on each of them.
Which one is open weights?
MiniMax H3 Image. MiniMax publishes its weights on Hugging Face under the MiniMax-H3-Image Community License Agreement, and Mage runs them on its own GPUs, so there is nothing to install or rent. Nano Banana 2.1 is closed: it runs on Google's servers, reached through Mage.
Which costs less on Mage?
MiniMax H3 Image starts at 15 Gems (about $0.015) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Pro plan. Nano Banana 2.1 starts at 51 Gems (about $0.051) per image on Mage and runs unlimited from the Pro Plus plan.
Can I use both on Mage?
Yes. Both run in the same prompt box on Mage, on the same Gems and plans, and through the Mage API and the Mage MCP server for Claude and ChatGPT, so you can try a prompt on each and keep the better image.

Try MiniMax H3 Image and Nano Banana 2.1 on one prompt

Run the same prompt on both in Mage's prompt box and keep the better image. New accounts get 300 free Gems.

Try MiniMax H3 Image