Yana Lialuke
krea 3 changed 30.7% of a photo across 10 edits in a row. nano banana pro changed 74.2% of the same photo with the same prompts. we gave both models one foggy forest and kept editing each model's own last result, step after step.
the setup
we gave both models the same start photo and the same 10 edit prompts, one at a time. each step edited the previous result of that model, with no masks.
- start: one 2048×2048 photo of a foggy oak wood, generated with nano banana pro
- krea 3: krea's own api
- nano banana pro: openrouter, model
google/gemini-3-pro-image, 2k output - judge: a pixel diff against the previous step – a pixel counts as changed past 24 of 255
- test date: oct 15, 2026
both models finished all 10 edits with no failures.
the numbers
the pixel diff measures what each model repainted, asked or not.
| metric, 10 edits | krea 3 | nano banana pro |
|---|---|---|
| changed per edit, average | 3.8% | 12.6% |
| changed after 10 edits | 30.7% | 74.2% |
| wall clock | 3m 56s | 4m 59s |
| cost | ~$1.30 | $1.38 |
nano touched 3.3x more of the photo per edit. krea's cost is our estimate from its price list, nano's is the openrouter bill.
one edit, two maps
edit 5 hung a "turn back" sign on a tree. the orange on the right shows every pixel each model changed.
krea's regional edit repaints only the sign. nano redraws the whole forest to add one sign.
after 10 edits
each step stacks on the last one. by edit 10 the gap is visible without a diff.
- by edit 10 nano's fog turned purple and the moss broke into a mosaic
- krea's untouched corners still match the original photo
- nano's courtiers look like people. krea's look like stone statues
- the "turn back" sign in krea's frame overlaps the seated courtier
krea wins on keeping the photo, nano wins on the people in it.
the 10 edits
the same prompts went to both models, in this order:
- Add a young woman running through the forest along the mossy ground in the middle distance, wearing a light flowing white medieval linen dress, her long loose hair streaming behind her, captured mid-stride. Match the foggy light and photographic style, keeping everything else the same.
- Change the color of the running woman's dress to exactly #8B1E2D (deep crimson), keeping everything else the same.
- Add three pale, almost ghostly people with very light blond hair, dressed in faded, muted medieval courtly clothing: two of them standing half-hidden behind tree trunks, peeking out, and one sitting on a thick mossy branch. All three watch the running woman with haughty, arrogant poses and cold, disdainful expressions, chins raised. Keep the running woman and everything else the same.
- Remove the large moss-covered boulder in the bottom center foreground and fill the space with mossy forest floor, keeping everything else the same.
- Hang a small weathered wooden sign on the big tree trunk on the left, with the words TURN BACK carved into it, keeping everything else the same.
- Make the running woman glance back over her shoulder toward the viewer with a frightened expression: wide eyes, raised brows, parted lips. Keep her dress, body and everything else the same.
- Add a black raven perched on a mossy branch in the upper part of the image, keeping everything else the same.
- Remove the pale courtier standing on the right side of the image and fill the space with the forest behind, keeping everything else the same.
- Put a small glowing iron lantern in the running woman's hand, keeping everything else the same.
- Add a few small glowing will-o'-the-wisp lights floating low between the trees in the background, keeping everything else the same.
no edit was rerun and neither model got a mask or a region to work in.
the price and speed claims
krea says $0.06 per 2k image and under 8 seconds per 2k edit. an edit also pays for the input photo, so by krea's price list a 2k edit comes to about $0.13. our edits took 20 to 36 seconds each, upload and queue included.
our take
for a single edit, both do the job, and nano's people look more alive. for a chain of edits on one image, krea 3 keeps the photo and nano banana pro slowly repaints it. that matters for product shots, thumbnails and storyboards that go through many rounds.
sources
- krea 3, krea – the model page
- krea api docs – the api we called
- nano banana pro on openrouter – the model page
- krea launched krea 3, testingcatalog – oct 15 launch, price and speed claims
- prompts, frames, pixel diffs and costs: our test, oct 15, 2026
