Hailuo AI vs Elyumfor Nano Banana 2
Elyum bills Nano Banana 2 only on a kept take; Hailuo AI does not publish a per-still price and reviews say failed generations still spend credits.
Nano Banana 2 is Google's image model for people and products that have to stay themselves. It is fast, sharp on faces and packaging, and it takes a reference still without inventing a cousin. Text-to-image and image editing are the two jobs. If you already like the look, you are not shopping for a different model. You are shopping for the meter.
On Hailuo AI, Nano Banana 2 sits in the same credit workspace as MiniMax's own Hailuo line. Hailuo AI does not publish a per-image Nano Banana 2 price. Plans start at Standard $9.99/mo for 1,000 credits. Third-party reviews say failed or moderation-rejected gens still spend those credits. On Elyum the same model is metered at listed 1K, 2K and 4K rates. Every render returns as a free preview. KEEP is the only charge. KILL refunds in full. Elyum pricing starts at a Free 150-credit grant, then Plus $9/mo.
Hailuo AI's official pricing page did not return a dated table in the September 2026 research pass. Dollar and credit figures below come from third-party writeups (Mobbi, AI Video Bootcamp, Felloai) and may have drifted. Whether Hailuo AI truly hosts every third-party name it mentions is only partly confirmed. MiniMax H3 and Hailuo 2.x are first-party. Nano Banana 2 is named on Hailuo AI's paid vs free generators post. For a dated list on our side, use the models catalog.
Nano Banana 2 on Hailuo AI
Hailuo AI lists Nano Banana 2 as an image tool in its creative workspace, next to MiniMax H3 and Seedance 2.0. Hailuo AI does not publish which plan unlocks it, and it does not publish credits per still. Plans start at Standard, $9.99/mo for 1,000 credits (watermark off, commercial use on paid tiers, per third-party pricing pages). See the Hailuo AI alternative for the rest of that catalog.
A failed generation is the expensive unknown. No official refund guarantee is on the Hailuo AI record. AI Video Bootcamp's 2026 guide reports credits deducted when a generation fails or moderation rejects it, and flags aggressive, unpredictable rejections. Credits reset each billing month and do not roll over, per those same writeups. Hailuo AI also does not document a pay-as-you-go top-up separate from the monthly tiers.
Nano Banana 2 on Elyum
On Elyum, Nano Banana 2 is billed per kept still at 1K 3 credits ($0.03), 2K 4.5 credits ($0.04) and 4K 6 credits ($0.06). Fair-use unlimited on this model sits on Ultra ($69/mo). Text to image and image editing both run in the studio. Plus is $9/mo, Pro $29/mo. 1 credit equals $0.01. Open the Nano Banana 2 model for the live meter.
Every render comes back as a free preview. KEEP is the charge. KILL refunds in full, automatically. A failed generation is never billed. Free-plan kills are one a month; Plus, Pro and Ultra kill freely. Kept takes download clean, no watermark, commercial use included. The same balance covers MiniMax H3 if you also want Hailuo's first-party video line without leaving the studio. Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can drive this through the MCP docs.
What a Nano Banana 2 take costs
| Scenario | Hailuo AI | Elyum |
|---|---|---|
| One 1K render you keep | Not published | 3 credits ($0.03) |
| Three 1K takes you keep | Not published; unused takes still spend credits, per reviews | 3 credits ($0.03) |
| A failed generation | Credits consumed (third-party reviews); no official refund | Not charged |
| Monthly plan to reach the model | Unlock plan not published; Standard starts $9.99/mo | Free (up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them)), no card |
| Watermark on the file | Free: yes. Paid: removed (third-party writeups) | None on kept takes |
| One 4K render you keep | Not published | 6 credits ($0.06) |
Elyum: 1 credit = $0.01, charged only when you keep a take. Hailuo AI figures from its own pricing pages and independent reviews, verified 2026-09-07; sources at the end. Full rate card on the Nano Banana 2 page.
Where the two differ
Elyum charges Nano Banana 2 only on KEEP. Hailuo AI bills from a monthly credit pool and does not publish a per-still Nano Banana 2 rate. AI Video Bootcamp reports failed and rejected gens still deduct credits.
Elyum lists 1K, 2K and 4K for this model. Hailuo AI's published caps (1080p on Hailuo 2.3/02, 2K on MiniMax H3) are for native video. A Nano Banana 2 still size on Hailuo AI is not published.
Hailuo AI is MiniMax-first (Hailuo 2.3, H3, plus some third-party tools). Elyum is one studio and one balance across 50+ models, without a timeline editor, stock footage, avatars or a mobile app.
MiniMax sells a separate developer API on platform.minimax.io. Consumer Hailuo AI credits are not that product. Elyum exposes the same studio models through REST API docs and MCP.
Hailuo AI free tier: watermarked, no commercial rights. Paid Standard and up: watermark off and commercial use, per third-party breakdowns. Elyum kept takes: no watermark, commercial use, on Free and paid.
AI Video Bootcamp cites Trustpilot reviewers who reported unauthorized charges and trouble canceling. That 1.4/5 figure was not rechecked against Trustpilot in the research pass. Elyum lists Plus $9/mo, Pro $29/mo, Ultra $69/mo, plus credit top-ups.
Pick Hailuo AI when
- You want MiniMax H3 and Hailuo 2.3 first-party the day MiniMax ships, and Nano Banana 2 is a side tool in that same Hailuo AI workspace.
- You already pay for Hailuo AI video and you are fine with a $9.99/mo credit pool even without a published Nano Banana 2 still price.
- You want a no-card free trial on Hailuo AI, and a watermark plus no commercial rights is acceptable while you test.
- MiniMax H3's native stereo audio on up to 15s 2K clips is first-party on Hailuo AI, so the video half of the workspace is the reason to stay.
Pick Elyum when
- You need a published Nano Banana 2 price (1K 3 credits ($0.03)) and a free preview before any charge.
- Bad takes and failed gens should refund or never bill. Paid plans kill freely.
- You want 1K, 2K and 4K on one balance, plus 50+ other models, MCP and a REST API.
- Ultra ($69/mo) includes fair-use unlimited on selected image models, including this one.
Nano Banana 2 in three styles, rendered on Elyum
Getting the most out of Nano Banana 2
- Lock identity in the first clause: name the person or SKU, then attach a reference still. Nano Banana 2 holds faces and packaging when you stop re-describing them in later sentences.
- Call the camera like a stills brief: 85mm, three-quarter, soft key from camera left, no beauty-blur. Mood words without a lens make it invent lighting.
- Put the aspect ratio in the first line (1:1, 4:5, 16:9). Burying crop at the end is how you get a 1:1 face on a 16:9 prompt.
- For edits, state only the delta: keep the bottle, replace the front label with "ACME 12oz", match existing print grain. A full re-prompt is how you lose the product.
- Quote on-image text in double quotes and specify placement (top third, flush left). Unquoted copy gets paraphrased or misspelled.
- Do not stack competing art movements in one prompt. Pick one rendering (studio catalog or outdoor noon) and one material note. Conflicting styles smear logos.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Nano Banana 2 image cost on Elyum vs Hailuo AI?
Is Nano Banana 2 the same model on both?
What happens to a bad Nano Banana 2 take?
Do I need a subscription to use Nano Banana 2 on Elyum?
Does Hailuo AI watermark Nano Banana 2 images?
Can I run Nano Banana 2 from Claude or Cursor?
- Hailuo AI Video & Image Generator (homepage) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI: Free vs Paid AI Video Generators (official blog) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- MiniMax Releases MiniMax H3: An Omni-Modal Video Model - MarkTechPost (accessed 2026-09-07)
- MiniMax Hailuo 2.3: A New Level of Complex Video Performance - MiniMax News (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI: Pricing, Prompts and Honest Review (2026) - AI Video Bootcamp (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI Pricing Explained — MiniMax Video Plans and Costs (2026) - Mobbi.ai (accessed 2026-09-07)
- MiniMax Pricing 2026: Hailuo, API & Plans Explained - Felloai (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hailuo AI Video Review 2026: My Experience After Testing It - Cybernews (accessed 2026-09-07)
Related comparisons
Create everything. Keep the best.
Nano Banana 2 is a AI image generator you can preview free on Elyum. Keep the takes you love, kill the rest for a full refund.