Seedream 5 Lite vs Nano Banana 2
Take Seedream 5 Lite unless the deliverable has an unusual shape. Then it has to be Nano Banana 2.
The default image model: cheap, fast, takes seven references, and gives away its top resolution.
from 3 credits · ByteDance
Google's image model, and the one to reach for when the aspect ratio is unusual.
from 6 credits · Google
Side by side
| Seedream 5 Lite | Nano Banana 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest | 3 credits | 6 credits |
| Aspect ratios | 1:1 4:3 3:4 16:9 9:16 3:2 2:3 21:9 | 1:1 1:4 1:8 2:3 3:2 3:4 4:1 4:3 4:5 5:4 8:1 9:16 16:9 21:9 |
| Reference images | 7 | 7 |
Arena
Week 36, 2026
Arena week 36: every model can spell now
Every model got FERMÉ LE LUNDI right, accent included. Nano Banana 2 wins it for the sign nobody asked for: it put CAFÉ DU COIN · BRASSERIE on the awning behind and spelled that correctly too, which is the harder version of the same skill. GPT Image 2 drew the cleanest single line at five times the price.
Which one
These are the two models most work starts on, and the honest summary is that quality is not the deciding factor. Both take seven references, both handle the ordinary run of product shots, characters and scenes, and the gap between them on a typical prompt is smaller than the gap between two attempts at the same prompt.
What separates them is shape. Seedream 5 Lite offers eight aspect ratios; Nano Banana 2 offers fourteen, and the extras are the ones nothing else in the catalog has: 1:4, 4:1, 8:1, 1:8. If you are making a banner, a skyscraper unit, a tall panel or a wide strip, Nano Banana is not the better choice, it is the only one that will frame it natively.
Price runs the other way, and with a wrinkle. Seedream 5 Lite is 3 credits and charges the same for 3K as for 2K, so you always take the larger size for nothing. Nano Banana 2 starts at 6 and climbs to 13 at 4K, so its resolution dropdown is a real decision every time.
Where Seedream gives way is 21:9: it has one, and Nano Banana does not offer the same cinematic framing in its ladder. So the rule is narrower than "pick one": ordinary shapes and volume go to Seedream, unusual shapes go to Nano Banana, and if you want the fourteen ratios cheaply, Nano Banana 2 Lite runs all of them at 1K for 3.
Both are one pick in the same composer.
Switching models does not move your references or your library. New accounts start with credits to try both.
Start picturing