Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) vs Llama Guard 3 1B
Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) (2025) and Llama Guard 3 1B (2024) are compact production models from Google DeepMind and AI at Meta. Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) ships a 66k-token context window, while Llama Guard 3 1B ships a 128k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Llama Guard 3 1B is ~1900% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) | Llama Guard 3 1B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | General | Long context and Classification |
| Context window | 66k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $120/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Llama Guard 3 1B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama Guard 3 1B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.10/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Llama Guard 3 1B for Long context and Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview)
$31,600
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Google AI Studio
Llama Guard 3 1B
$105
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Fireworks AI
Estimated monthly gap: $31,495. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) and Llama Guard 3 1B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Llama Guard 3 1B is $120/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Llama Guard 3 1B and Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview); plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) is $120/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-09-01 | 2024-09-25 |
| Context window | 66k | 128k |
| Parameters | — | 1B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Llama 2 Community |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open weights |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2023-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) | Llama Guard 3 1B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $2/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $120/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) | Llama Guard 3 1B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint is close: both models cover the core production surface. That makes context budget, benchmark fit, and provider maturity more important than a simple checklist. If your application depends on one integration detail, verify it against the provider route you plan to use, not just the base model listing.
For cost, Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) lists $2/1M input and $120/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Llama Guard 3 1B lists $0.10/1M input and $0.10/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama Guard 3 1B lower by about $37.30 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 1, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) when provider fit and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Llama Guard 3 1B when long-context analysis, larger context windows, and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) or Llama Guard 3 1B?
Llama Guard 3 1B supports 128k tokens, while Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) supports 66k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) or Llama Guard 3 1B?
Llama Guard 3 1B is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) costs $2/1M input and $120/1M output tokens. Llama Guard 3 1B costs $0.10/1M input and $0.10/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) or Llama Guard 3 1B open source?
Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) is listed under Proprietary. Llama Guard 3 1B is listed under Llama 2 Community. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Where can I run Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) and Llama Guard 3 1B?
Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) is available on Google AI Studio, GCP Vertex AI, and OpenRouter. Llama Guard 3 1B is available on Fireworks AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) over Llama Guard 3 1B?
Llama Guard 3 1B is ~1900% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview) only for provider fit. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro Image Preview); if it depends on long-context analysis, run the same evaluation with Llama Guard 3 1B.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.