Hedra vs Elyumfor Nano Banana 2
Hedra bills about 7 credits per Nano Banana 2 generation, while Elyum returns a free preview and charges only the take you KEEP.
Nano Banana 2 is Google's image model for text-to-image and image editing. It is built for speed and sharpness, and for keeping a face, outfit, or product looking like itself across a new scene or an edit. The subject stays the subject. That identity lock is why art directors use it for people and packaged goods instead of a looser generator. On Elyum, the Nano Banana 2 page lists eleven aspect ratios and 1K, 2K, or 4K. Hedra also lists native 4K for Nano Banana 2 and Pro, and names the same model Gemini 3.1 Flash, aimed at speed and multi-subject reference.
The weights come from the same vendor. The bill and the miss policy do not. Hedra lists Nano Banana 2 at about 7 credits a generation. Hedra's pricing page starts paid plans at Basic for $15/mo with 1,500 credits, and states that monthly credits do not roll over. Elyum prices by resolution, starts with a Free plan of up to 150 credits (our algorithm may grant them) and no card, and charges only kept takes. A failed generation is never charged on Elyum. Hedra has a Generation History & Credit Refunds page, but the exact terms were not independently confirmed here. Trustpilot reviewers have written that credits were charged for artifacted outputs and that refund requests sat unanswered.
Hedra is the better desk when the week is talking portraits. Independent reviewers rate Character-3 among the best tested in 2026 for lip-sync and micro-expression, and Nano Banana 2 sits in a catalog of roughly 46 video, 35 image, and 12 audio models behind one API key. Hedra's Trustpilot score is about 2.1/5, driven by billing and support complaints rather than output quality. Elyum does not ship a timeline editor, stock footage, its own avatars, a mobile app, team seats, or a community feed. Read the Hedra alternative page if those gaps matter. If the work is iterating stills and killing most of them, keep/kill is the difference that shows up on the invoice.
Nano Banana 2 on Hedra
Hedra lists Nano Banana 2 as Gemini 3.1 Flash on Hedra's Nano Banana model page, at about 7 credits a generation, for speed and multi-subject reference. Native 4K is listed for Nano Banana 2 and Pro. Hedra does not publish cents per credit, so those 7 credits stay in credits. No plan gate is published. The free tier is 100 one-time credits. Third-party reviews say free output is watermarked and not commercially licensed, and that 100 credits covers about 2-3 tests. Paid plans list commercial use. Paid files are not watermarked.
What a bad Nano Banana 2 render costs on Hedra is not a published number. Hedra documents Generation History & Credit Refunds, but those exact terms were not independently fetched. Trustpilot reviewers wrote that credits were charged even when the output had visible artifacts, and that refund requests went unanswered for a long time. Monthly subscription credits expire at cycle end. Add-on packs are reported (third-party, not confirmed on Hedra's copy) to persist. Hedra also offers API v3 and an MCP server with pay-per-use pricing separate from subscription credits.
Nano Banana 2 on Elyum
On Elyum, Nano Banana 2 runs as text-to-image and image editing at 1K for 3 credits ($0.03), 2K for 4.5 credits ($0.04), and 4K for 6 credits ($0.06). Every render comes back as a free preview. Credits move only when you KEEP a take. Kill the rest and the charge is refunded in full, automatically. A failed generation is never charged. Free allows one kill a month. Plus ($9/mo), Pro ($29/mo), and Ultra ($69/mo) kill freely. Kept takes download at full quality with no watermark. Commercial use is included. Ultra also includes fair-use unlimited image generation on this model.
Plans start at Free (up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card). See the pricing page for the paid pools and top-ups. The same balance covers the rest of the studio. You can also call the model from Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor through the MCP docs and the REST API. Elyum does not include a timeline editor or talking-head avatars, so stills work stays in the take tray.
What a Nano Banana 2 take costs
| Scenario | Hedra | Elyum |
|---|---|---|
| One 1K render you keep | About 7 credits (cents per credit not published) | 3 credits ($0.03) |
| One 4K render you keep | About 7 credits; native 4K listed | 6 credits ($0.06) |
| Ten 1K renders, keep three | About 7 credits per generation × 10 (no keep/kill) | 3 credits ($0.03) |
| A failed generation | Refund terms not independently confirmed | Never charged |
| Monthly plan needed to access the model | No published gate; free tier is 100 credits | Free plan, up to 150 credits once (our algorithm may grant them), no card |
| Watermark on the file | Reported on free tier; paid plans have none | None on kept takes |
Elyum: 1 credit = $0.01, charged only when you keep a take. Hedra 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
Hedra lists about 7 credits per Nano Banana 2 generation and does not publish cents per credit. Elyum lists 1K at 3 credits ($0.03), 2K at 4.5 credits ($0.04), and 4K at 6 credits ($0.06), already about 20% under comparable studio anchors.
On Elyum a failed generation is never charged, and a KILL refunds the take in full. Hedra has a Generation History & Credit Refunds page whose exact terms were not independently confirmed. Trustpilot reviewers have written that artifacted outputs were still charged.
Both list native 4K for Nano Banana 2. Elyum also publishes 1K and 2K rates and eleven aspect ratios. Hedra's public copy in this research does not break out a 1K vs 2K vs 4K credit split for this model.
Hedra's own pricing page says monthly subscription credits do not roll over. Purchased add-on packs are reported to persist (third-party, not confirmed on Hedra's copy). Elyum credits can be topped up on top of Free, Plus, Pro, and Ultra.
Hedra ships API v3 and an MCP server with pay-per-use pricing separate from subscriptions. Elyum exposes the same model through the web studio plus MCP and a REST API.
Hedra's own Character-3 talking-avatar model is the reason many accounts exist, with a wide third-party catalog around it. Elyum is one studio and one credit balance across 50+ models, without a timeline editor, stock footage, or its own avatars.
Pick Hedra when
- You want Character-3 talking portraits and Nano Banana 2 stills on one Hedra login and one API key.
- Hedra lists the model at about 7 credits a generation and calls out speed plus multi-subject reference.
- You need Hedra's API v3 or MCP, with pay-per-use pricing separate from the monthly credit plans.
- A 100-credit free tier is enough to run two or three tests before you pick a paid plan.
Pick Elyum when
- Every Nano Banana 2 render is a free preview. Credits move only when you KEEP a take.
- Listed rates are 3 credits ($0.03) at 1K, 4.5 credits ($0.04) at 2K, and 6 credits ($0.06) at 4K.
- Kept files have no watermark and include commercial use. Free starts at up to 150 credits (our algorithm may grant them) with no card.
- Ultra ($69/mo) includes fair-use unlimited image generation on this model.
Nano Banana 2 in three styles, rendered on Elyum
Getting the most out of Nano Banana 2
- Name the person or product once, then lock two or three invariants (hair part, scar, label layout, fabric). Nano Banana 2 is built to keep that subject. If you rewrite the face in the same prompt, you fight the model.
- For more than one person, label them (Person A, Person B), give each a place in frame, and attach a reference per subject when you have one. Hedra's listing calls out multi-subject reference. The same labeling helps on Elyum.
- Write camera, not mood. 85mm at eye level with a soft key and a hard rim will hold a face. Vague lighting words leave the model to guess, and you will burn takes.
- Set the aspect ratio in the control, not in a crop later. Elyum offers eleven ratios for feed, story, ad, and print-style stills. Prompt for the frame you picked (full-body in 9:16, hero pack shot in 4:5).
- On an edit, state the change and the freeze. New background, dusk street. Keep the face, the red jacket, and the bottle label. One change per take. Stacked instructions drift.
- Do not ask it to glamorize a face or to fix teeth and pores unless that is the job. Beauty passes rewrite identity. Keep on-image text short and spell the exact words. Long paragraphs on a label will mush.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Nano Banana 2 image cost on Elyum vs Hedra?
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 Hedra watermark Nano Banana 2 files?
Can I call Nano Banana 2 from an API or MCP?
- Hedra Pricing (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra All Models catalog (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Video Generation API (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Veo model page (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Nano Banana model page (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Grok Imagine model page (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Best AI Video Models blog (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Reviews - Trustpilot (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra AI Review 2026: Pricing, Character-3, and Is It Still Worth It? (fluxnote.io) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra AI Review 2026: What Holds It Back (lovart.ai, June 2026) (accessed 2026-09-07)
- Hedra Generation History & Credit Refunds docs (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.