Nano Banana API in Russia: Nano Banana Pro and Nano Banana 2 with no VPN or foreign card
Nano Banana is Google’s name for its Gemini models that generate and edit images. You can’t reach them from Russia directly: the Gemini API and Google AI Studio aren’t available there. On RuAPI, Nano Banana Pro, Nano Banana 2, 2.1 and 2 Lite all work with one key in Google’s native format, generateContent, just like in the Google GenAI SDK. Nano Banana 2.1 and Nano Banana 2 can also be called over the OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions. Billing is per token, the way Google does it, and you top up in USDT.
Updated:
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
api_key="sk-...",
base_url="https://www.ruapi.ai/v1",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
model="gemini-4-argon",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)This sample calls a text Gemini model in the OpenAI format. For images we recommend native generateContent — see step 3 below. In this OpenAI format only gemini-nano-banana-2.1 and gemini-3.1-flash-image reliably return images: change the model and start the prompt with “Generate an image: …” — the picture comes back in content as . Samples that save the file: docs.ruapi.ai/en/image-generation.
Why Nano Banana doesn’t work from Russia directly
Google keeps Russia out of both the Gemini API and AI Studio.
Russia is not on the list of countries where the Gemini API and Google AI Studio are offered (aistudio.google.com/docs/available-regions, 5 Nov 2026), so you can’t get a Nano Banana key from Google, and AI Studio won’t open from Russia. The RuAPI site and API open from Russia directly, with no VPN.
Paid access at Google goes through a Cloud billing account.
Google bills images in its API per token, and the bill is tied to Google Cloud. RuAPI only needs an email, Google or Yandex sign-in, and you top up in USDT from 5 USDT. If you don’t hold USDT yet, you can buy it for rubles via SBP — see docs.ruapi.ai/en/buy-usdt. Foreign-issued cards are accepted too.
Each Nano Banana has its own price and resolutions.
Nano Banana Pro goes up to 4K and reasons about the prompt; Nano Banana 2 Lite only does 1K, but its input and text are several times cheaper. On RuAPI all four models work with one key, and the cost of each request shows up in the Console log, so it’s easy to match the model to the job and the budget.
How to connect the Nano Banana API via RuAPI: 3 steps
A RuAPI key instead of a Google AI Studio key: the same key works in the Google GenAI SDK and in the OpenAI SDK.
Sign up and top up
Create an account at www.ruapi.ai with email, Google or Yandex. Top up in USDT (USDC works too) from 5 USDT over TRC20, BEP20, TON or Polygon; how to buy USDT for rubles via SBP is covered at docs.ruapi.ai/en/buy-usdt. A foreign-issued card works as well.
The $0.05 trial credit new accounts usually get only covers the text models claude-haiku-5-5, deepseek-flash and gpt-6-luna. Nano Banana models unlock after your first top-up.
Create a key — that’s your “Nano Banana API key”
Console → API Keys → “Create API key”. Images cost more than text, so a separate key with a budget is handy: in the Credit limit block, turn off “Unlimited” and enter an amount.
Send a generation request
- Recommended: Google’s native format. POST https://www.ruapi.ai/v1beta/models/gemini-nano-banana-2.1:generateContent with the key in the x-goog-api-key header and the body {"contents": [{"parts": [{"text": "A ginger cat in a spacesuit"}]}], "generationConfig": {"responseModalities": ["TEXT", "IMAGE"], "imageConfig": {"aspectRatio": "16:9", "imageSize": "2K"}}}. The image comes in its own field, candidates[0].content.parts[].inlineData.data. For Nano Banana Pro or 2 Lite, put gemini-3-pro-image or gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image in the URL (2 Lite is 1K only).
- In the Google GenAI SDK: genai.Client(api_key="sk-…", http_options={"base_url": "https://www.ruapi.ai"}), then client.models.generate_content. Google’s docs now show examples for the Interactions API (client.interactions.create); RuAPI does not offer it, so use generate_content.
- OpenAI-compatible, for gemini-nano-banana-2.1 and gemini-3.1-flash-image only: POST https://www.ruapi.ai/v1/chat/completions with the header Authorization: Bearer sk-… and the body {"model": "gemini-nano-banana-2.1", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Generate an image: a ginger cat in a spacesuit"}]}. The image arrives inside choices[0].message.content as a Markdown link  — cut the base64 out of the text and save it to a file. Pro and 2 Lite often reply without an image on this endpoint, so call them natively.
- To edit an existing image, send it along with the text: as an inlineData part in the native format, or as an image_url part (a link or data URI) in chat/completions. PNG, JPEG, WebP, HEIC and HEIF are accepted.
- Full curl and Python samples that save the image straight to a file: docs.ruapi.ai/en/image-generation.
Nano Banana models are not called through /v1/images/generations — that endpoint is for GPT Image only. More: docs.ruapi.ai/en/image-generation
Which Nano Banana is which ID
Models (Google’s IDs)
Nano Banana Pro: gemini-3-pro-image (or nano-banana-pro)
Nano Banana 2.1: gemini-nano-banana-2.1
Nano Banana 2: gemini-3.1-flash-image
Nano Banana 2 Lite: gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image
Price of one image*
Nano Banana 2.1: 1K ≈ $0.040; 2K ≈ $0.060; 4K ≈ $0.136
Nano Banana Pro: 1K or 2K ≈ $0.161; 4K ≈ $0.288
Nano Banana 2 and 2 Lite: per token, see the pricing page
Endpoints and payment
https://www.ruapi.ai/v1beta/models/<ID>:generateContent
https://www.ruapi.ai/v1/chat/completions (2.1 and Nano Banana 2)
USDT / USDC from 5 USDT
Nano Banana API pricing
Nano Banana models billed per token, the way Google does it: the larger the image, the more tokens. Prices per 1M tokens in USD, the same as on the pricing page. Note: the output column is the price of text and thinking, not of the image. The cost of one image is below the table and in the block above. No subscription.
| model | input $/M | output $/M |
|---|---|---|
| gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image | $0.30 | $1.80 |
| gemini-nano-banana-2.1 | $1.80 | $9.00 |
| gemini-3.1-flash-image | $0.60 | $72.00 |
| gemini-3-pro-image | $2.40 | $14.40 |
Input covers text and images you send. The output image is billed at a separate image-token rate, higher than the text rate; on gemini-3.1-flash-image all output, the image included, is billed at the output rate in the table. One image ≈ Nano Banana 2.1: 1K $0.040, 2K $0.060, 4K $0.136; Nano Banana Pro: 1K or 2K $0.161, 4K $0.288, the same per-image figures the pricing page shows. For Nano Banana 2 and 2 Lite the cost of an image depends on its token count: see the pricing page and the Console log. *How we count: the token count of one image from Google’s price list (aistudio.google.com/docs/pricing, 5 Nov 2026: 1K 1,120; 2K 1,680, Pro 1,120; 4K 3,780 on 2.1, 2,000 on Pro) × our image output rate as of 5 Nov 2026; thinking and the prompt are billed on top. nano-banana-pro is the same model as gemini-3-pro-image at the same price.