Krea 3 vs Nano Banana 2.1: Editing Compared (2026)

Krea 3 is Krea's new image editing model, announced on October 15, 2026, and Nano Banana 2.1 is Google's newest Nano Banana: both run in Flick on the Free plan, and both promise edits that keep what you did not ask to change. A model that drifts costs you the set, the light or the character you already built, and you find out after you pay for the run. So we gave Krea 3 vs Nano Banana 2.1 four identical prompts in Flick, two edits of an existing image, one look copied from a reference and one long text prompt, all at the same settings. This page shows every result side by side, what each model kept, changed and got wrong, what it costs, and which to pick for which job.

How do Krea 3 and Nano Banana 2.1 compare on Flick?

How did we test Krea 3 against Nano Banana 2.1?

• One run per model per test, so these are four single takes, not averages.
• Krea 3 runs are Zoey's tests; Nano Banana 2.1 runs are Hannah's, on the same inputs.
• Krea 3 returned 1360 × 768 and Nano Banana 2.1 returned 1376 × 768 at the same setting.

Which model keeps a room when you add people to it?

Using the reference image as the exact location, create a cinematic film still of an intimate moment from a movie of a couple having a conversation. Two adults sit close together on the rust velvet sofa, their bodies turned toward each other, caught in a quiet, unguarded exchange. One speaks softly while the other listens with attentive eye contact, a small, almost imperceptible smile. Relaxed postures, natural hand gestures, everyday clothing, believable chemistry. They are absorbed in each other, unaware of the camera.

Reframe the room as an eye level medium two shot, photographed from across the coffee table with a 50mm lens. Both faces remain readable, while the familiar loft recedes softly behind them. Preserve the exposed brick, concrete beams, industrial windows, vinyl shelves, houseplants, and red mushroom lamp. Warm practical lamplight gently illuminates their faces against the cool blue dusk outside, with soft shadows and natural skin tones. Restrained cinematic color grading, subtle 35mm film grain, realistic skin texture, gentle depth of field. The feeling of a private moment observed rather than staged. No looking at the camera, exaggerated expressions, glamour lighting, text, or subtitles.

Krea 3

Nano Banana 2.1

• Krea 3 reframed as asked: the couple fill most of the frame at eye level, with the daybed, records, plants, brick and the red mushroom lamp kept behind them, but the concrete beams and orange pendant fall out of the closer frame.
• Nano Banana 2.1 kept the room almost untouched: the beams, pendant, framed art, rug and coffee table sit where they were, and the couple are added small on the sofa, so the 50mm medium two shot never happens.
• Both got the acting right: one person talks with an open hand while the other listens, neither looks at the camera, and no text appears.

Which model changes just what you ask for?

lots of clouds

Krea 3

Nano Banana 2.1

• Krea 3 changed the sky and left the land: a layer of rippled clouds fills the empty sky, while the peaks, the valley mist and the slope keep their shapes and grade.
• Nano Banana 2.1 rebuilt the scene: towering clouds and fog spill over the ridge, hide the left-hand peaks and turn the red mountains browner, a more dramatic picture but a bigger edit than asked.
• Measured on the land: in the bottom 40% of the frame, the average pixel changed by 7 for Krea 3 and 19 for Nano Banana 2.1, on a 0 to 255 scale.

Which model copies a look from a reference image better?

Recreate the old TV look of the reference as a still frame of a white flower blooming against a green background. Show a single white flower caught midway through opening, its delicate petals unfurling outward from the center, with a slender green stem. Keep the flower as the clear focal point against a simple soft green background. Make it feel like an archival botanical time lapse broadcast on an old analog television, with soft optical detail, muted green color, luminous slightly blown white petals, subtle horizontal scan lines, analog video grain, faint signal noise, gentle color bleed, slight ghosting around petal edges, and softly darkened corners. Organic imperfect vintage television texture rather than crisp modern digital photography. The image itself fills the frame, with no physical television set, screen border, writing, letters, numbers, captions, logos, or watermark.

Krea 3

Nano Banana 2.1

• Krea 3 drew a many-petalled flower with its centre still closed, the clearest reading of midway through opening, on a light sage green with even horizontal scan lines.
• Nano Banana 2.1 drew a simpler, wider-open flower on a darker olive green, with blown white petals, cyan and orange colour bleed at their edges, dust specks and streaks of signal noise.
• Both obeyed the limits: no television set, border or text, and the corners darkened in each.

Which model follows a long text prompt more closely?

A cinematic editorial photograph of a dark chocolate brown dog sitting upright on a worn wooden school chair with a tubular metal frame, looking directly into the camera with a calm, solemn expression. To the right, a tall rectangular block of rough pale wood supports a terracotta pot containing a sparse, sculptural cactus. The setting is a bare interior corner with textured, muted olive beige plaster walls and a narrow strip of dark floor. Wide horizontal composition, with the dog slightly left of center, the cactus to the right, and generous negative space above and around them. Soft directional daylight enters from the upper left, casting a broad dog shaped shadow onto the wall. Understated vintage fashion photography, earthy subdued colors, warm green undertones, gentle contrast, deep soft shadows, visible analog film grain, tactile surfaces, and quiet, slightly surreal staging.

Krea 3

Nano Banana 2.1

Krea 3 or Nano Banana 2.1: which should you pick, and when?

1. 1. Krea 3 for one exact change

   It added clouds without touching the land and reframed a room without losing its props, so use it when the rest of the frame is already approved.

2. 2. Krea 3 for staging a shot in a set

   It moved the camera to the 50mm two shot it was asked for, where Nano Banana 2.1 kept the wide view, so it can find new angles inside a location you already made.

3. 3. Nano Banana 2.1 for many references

   It charges 15 credits for a high quality edit with any number of references, while Krea 3 adds 16 credits for each one at that setting.

4. 4. Nano Banana 2.1 for size and speed

   Krea 3 stops at high quality while Nano Banana 2.1 goes to 4K, and Krea 3's picker estimate is about 35 seconds against about 15 for Nano Banana 2.1.

These are single takes on four prompts, so run your own pair before you commit a whole film to one model.

Krea 3 vs Nano Banana 2.1 FAQ

More on AI image editing in Flick

Tests and films on this page

• Zoey Z. · Krea 3 tests
• Hannah L. · Nano Banana 2.1 tests