Key Takeaways
- Seedream 4.5 excels at stylized creativity, multi-image consistency, and commercial typography
- Nano Banana Pro dominates in photorealism, infographics, and complex reasoning tasks
- Seedream 4.5 costs $0.025-$0.04 per image; Nano Banana Pro costs $0.13-$0.24 per image
- Nano Banana Pro supports up to 4K resolution (5632x3072)
- Both models support up to 14 reference images for consistency
- They are not competitors - they are specialists for different creative needs
- Try both on VeilPix - free credits to get started
The Two Contenders
In late 2025, two AI image generation models have emerged as the undisputed leaders in their respective domains. ByteDance's Seedream 4.5, released on December 3, 2025, represents the pinnacle of the Chinese tech giant's visual AI research. Google DeepMind's Nano Banana Pro (officially Gemini 3 Pro Image), launched on November 20, 2025, brings Google's state-of-the-art reasoning capabilities to image generation.
Seedream 4.5
ByteDance Seed AI
- Released: December 3, 2025
- Best for: Stylized creativity, e-commerce
- Multi-image batch generation
- Max Resolution: 4K
- Reference Images: Up to 10
Nano Banana Pro
Google DeepMind (Gemini 3)
- Released: November 20, 2025
- Best for: Realism, infographics, reasoning
- Google Search grounding for accuracy
- Max Resolution: 4K (5632x3072)
- Reference Images: Up to 14
Philosophy: Two Different Creative Teammates
"If Seedream 4.5 is a digital illustrator, Nano Banana Pro is a DSLR camera with perfect lighting and an unlimited set of lenses."
This analogy from industry analysts captures the fundamental difference between these models. Seedream 4.5 is a stylization expert - perfect for narrative-driven, conceptual, imaginative, and design-focused visions. Nano Banana Pro is a realism expert - perfect for commercial, corporate, photographic, and product-focused visuals.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | Seedream 4.5 | Nano Banana Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Resolution | 4K | 4K (5632x3072) |
| Reference Images | Up to 10 | Up to 14 |
| Character Consistency | 5+ characters | 5 characters |
| Text Rendering | Excellent (dense text) | Excellent (multilingual) |
| Infographics | Good | Industry-leading |
| Photorealism | Good | Excellent |
| Stylized Art | Excellent | Good |
| Google Search Grounding | No | Yes |
| Batch Generation | Up to 15 images | Single or batch |
Pricing Comparison
One of the most significant differences between these models is pricing. Seedream 4.5 offers substantially lower per-image costs, while Nano Banana Pro commands a premium for its advanced reasoning capabilities.
Seedream 4.5 Pricing
Nano Banana Pro Pricing
Cost Analysis: 1,000 Images
Seedream 4.5: $25-$40
5-6x more cost-effective for high-volume production
Nano Banana Pro: $134-$240
Premium pricing for premium reasoning capabilities
Try Both Models Free
Test Seedream 4.5 and Nano Banana Pro side-by-side on VeilPix. Free credits to get started.
Strengths Deep Dive
Seedream 4.5 Excels At
Multi-Image Consistency
Generates multiple consecutive, highly consistent, and realistic images at once. Maintains character identity, proportions, and details across multiple outputs, angles, and actions - essential for storytelling, comic creation, and frame-by-frame creative work.
Typography and Dense Text
Poster-style key visuals with readable small text, deliberate layout, and typography-focused composition. Ideal for ads, event posters, landing pages, and brand kits. MagicBench benchmarks show designer-level composition.
Material and Texture Rendering
Accurately restores surface details such as natural creases, paper fibers, and calligraphy strokes. Realistic rendering of cloth, metal, glass with accurate reflections and physically coherent behavior.
Style Transfer and Transformation
Change images to Hong Kong 90s style, Baroque, oil painting, CG, Japanese animation, watercolor, or flat geometric styles. Transform brand textures into bronze, knitted, origami, or building block materials.
Best Use Cases
Nano Banana Pro Excels At
Infographics and Data Visualization
Turns literally anything into beautiful infographics. Can create complex multi-section posters combining dense typography, color-coded panels, structural hierarchies, and illustrative elements. Uses Google Search grounding for real-time data accuracy.
Reasoning and Logic
Built on Gemini 3 Pro, it has "great reasoning capability" for complex layouts. Can solve mathematical problems visually with correct intermediate steps. Enforces multiple simultaneous constraints: enumeration, spatial logic, and semantic filtering.
Photorealistic Detail
Images hold up against scrutiny - zoom in and they still look real. No fuzz, no mush, no digital artifacts. Razor-sharp detail, clean textures, and accurate lighting logic. Output can reach 5632x3072 pixels at approximately 24MB.
Multilingual Text Rendering
Generate text in multiple languages, localize and translate content for international scaling. Best model for creating images with correctly rendered and legible text - whether short taglines or long paragraphs.
Best Use Cases
Example Outputs
To illustrate the differences between these models, here are example outputs from identical or similar prompts, demonstrating each model's strengths.
Example: Golden Hour Portrait
Prompt: "A person standing on a city rooftop during golden hour, warm sunlight wrapping around their face, subtle lens flare, wind brushing their hair, shallow depth of field, 35mm photography vibe, natural skin texture."
Seedream 4.5 Result
Produces a more stylized, cinematic interpretation with enhanced color grading and dramatic lighting. Excellent for mood-driven creative work and social media content.
Nano Banana Pro Result
Delivers camera-like realism with accurate skin textures, natural lighting physics, and true-to-life lens characteristics. Better for commercial and editorial use.
Example: Technical Infographic
Prompt: "Create an infographic about coffee brewing methods with step-by-step instructions, temperature guidelines, and timing for each method."
Seedream 4.5 Result
Creates visually appealing layouts with good typography, but may require prompt refinement for complex data hierarchies. Strong on aesthetic appeal.
Nano Banana Pro Result
Leverages reasoning to create logically structured infographics with accurate data representation, proper visual hierarchies, and semantic label placement. Industry-leading.
Example: E-commerce Product Display
Prompt: "Best-selling product display in modern e-commerce style, title 'Today's Hot Sale', main product centered, price '$9.99' below, vertical gradient background orange-pink to light purple-blue."
Seedream 4.5 Result
Excels here with precise text placement, commercial-ready layouts, and consistent product styling. Native understanding of e-commerce visual language. Clear winner for this use case.
Nano Banana Pro Result
Produces clean results with accurate text rendering, but may lean toward photorealistic product shots rather than stylized commercial layouts.
Platform Availability
Seedream 4.5 Available On
Nano Banana Pro Available On
Which Model Should You Choose?
Choose Seedream 4.5 If You Need:
- High-volume production at lower cost ($0.025-$0.04/image)
- Multi-image consistency for comics, storyboards, or product catalogs
- Stylized, artistic, or imaginative visuals
- E-commerce and marketing materials with precise text placement
- Batch generation for multiple consistent images
- Style transfer and creative transformations
Choose Nano Banana Pro If You Need:
- Photorealistic, scrutiny-proof images
- Infographics, diagrams, or data visualization
- Complex reasoning and logical constraint handling
- Multilingual text with perfect rendering
- Real-time data integration via Google Search grounding
- Maximum resolution output (5632x3072 at 4K)
The Hybrid Workflow (Best of Both Worlds)
Many professionals use both models strategically. A pragmatic hybrid workflow: prototype and iterate with Seedream 4.5 for its speed and cost efficiency, then finalize with Nano Banana Pro for top-tier assets requiring maximum photorealism or complex infographic layouts. For budget-sensitive projects, use Seedream 4.5 for volume work and reserve Nano Banana Pro only for hero images destined for print or paid campaigns.
Final Verdict
Seedream 4.5 and Nano Banana Pro are not competitors - they are specialists. Seedream 4.5 is a stylization expert, perfect for narrative-driven, conceptual, imaginative, and design-focused visions. Nano Banana Pro is a realism expert, perfect for commercial, corporate, photographic, and product-focused visuals.
The good news? Both are available on VeilPix, so you can experiment with each model and discover which one best fits your creative workflow. Try them both and let the results speak for themselves.
Sources
- ByteDance Seed - Seedream 4.5 Official
- Google Blog - Nano Banana Pro Announcement
- Google DeepMind - Gemini 3 Pro Image
- Flux AI - Seedream 4.5 vs Nano Banana Pro Comparison
- Simon Willison - Nano Banana Pro Review
- Higgsfield AI - Nano Banana Pro Expert Use Cases
- APIMart - Seedream 4.5 API Pricing
- iMini - Nano Banana Pro vs Seedream 4.5
Try Both Models on VeilPix
Experience both Seedream 4.5 and Nano Banana Pro with VeilPix - privacy-first AI image editing with free credits to get started.