Nano Banana Pro vs Seedream 5: Two Ways to Make a Dense Poster
Both build text-heavy layouts. Seedream 5 hands the result back in editable layers and lets you click a region. Nano Banana Pro goes higher in resolution and knows real facts.
Nano Banana Pro
Google's image model is the one to use when the picture has words in it. It also blends 14 references and keeps up to 5 people looking like themselves.
- Made by
- Good for
- Posters, mockups and infographics where the words must be readable
- Weak at
- A visible watermark on free tiers, on top of the invisible one
- Resolution
- 1K, 2K or 4K
Seedream 5
ByteDance's image model takes up to ten reference pictures and does generation and reference-guided editing in the same model. It defaults to 1K, with 2K on request.
- Made by
- ByteDance
- Good for
- Pulling a character, a style and a colour palette from separate pictures into one
- Weak at
- Top resolution, which stops at 2K while rivals do 4K
- Resolution
- 1K by default, 2K on request (Pro)
Round by round
| Criterion | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Top resolution | Nano Banana Pro | Documented at 1K, 2K and 4K. Seedream 5 Pro is capped at 2048x2048 by its hosts, and Lite at 3072. |
| Editing one region | Seedream 5 | Click, lasso, box and sketch selection are documented. Nano Banana Pro edits from your description. |
| Getting layers back | Seedream 5 | It can split a result into text, subject, background and decoration as separate layers. |
| Reference images | Nano Banana Pro | Up to 14 blended, and 5 people held consistent. Seedream 5 Pro takes 10, Lite takes 14. |
| Facts from the real world | Nano Banana Pro | Built on Gemini's knowledge. Seedream's equivalent claim could not be confirmed on an official page. |
| Languages in the image | Tie | Google documents multilingual text with a measured error rate. ByteDance documents over ten languages with per-language typography. |
| Free-form output shape | Seedream 5 | Any ratio between 1/16 and 16. Nano Banana Pro uses preset ratios. |
| Provenance marking | Nano Banana Pro | SynthID on every output, and you can verify it. Seedream's watermark setting is documented only for neighbouring model builds. |
These two models are aimed at the same difficult thing. Not a pretty photo, but a page with structure in it. A poster with a headline and three columns. An infographic with a timeline and labels. A slide that a person has to read.
Both do it. The difference is what happens next. Seedream 5 treats the result as something you will keep changing, so it lets you click a region and hands back editable layers. Nano Banana Pro treats the result as a finished picture, and puts its effort into resolution and into being right about the world.
The short version
I have generated with Nano Banana Pro. I have not run production work through Seedream 5. Everything below is a comparison of published documentation, not of output I judged myself.
Side by side
| Nano Banana Pro | Seedream 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | ByteDance | |
| Also called | Gemini 3 Pro Image | Seedream 5.0, in Pro and Lite |
| Released | 20 November 2025 | Pro on 8 July 2026 |
| Max output | 1K, 2K and 4K | Pro up to 2048x2048, Lite up to 3072 |
| Aspect ratios | Preset list, and Google’s own pages give two different lists | Any ratio from 1/16 to 16 |
| Text in image | Documented as Google’s best, single-line error rates mostly under 10% | Documented as native in over ten languages |
| Languages | Multiple, documented | Over ten, including Arabic, Japanese, Korean and Russian |
| Local editing | By instruction | By click, lasso, box or sketch |
| Mask input | Not documented | Not documented, but selection tools cover the same need |
| Layers out | Not documented | Yes, text, subject, background and decoration |
| Reference images | Up to 14 blended, 5 people consistent | Pro 10, Lite 14 |
| Infographics | Documented, with real-world grounding | Documented, aimed at high information density |
| Watermark | SynthID on every output | A watermark flag is documented for related builds, not confirmed for Pro |
Three warnings on that table. Seedream’s 4K claims come from affiliate sites, not from ByteDance or from any host I could check, so 4K is not listed here. Google’s “up to 14 images” comes from its launch post while its API page gives a lower count for objects held at high fidelity. And the reference limit for Seedream 5 differs between Pro and Lite, so one number for “Seedream 5” would be wrong.
How you write for each one
Nano Banana Pro reads a prompt in order, and earlier words weigh more. So lead with the subject, then the action, then the place, then style, camera and light. For an edit, state what must stay the same first, then what changes.
Quote any literal words. Name the font style and the position. Keep the wording short, because fewer words on the page means fewer chances to misspell one.
Seedream 5 rewards the same clear description, and then changes how you iterate. Instead of rewriting the whole prompt to fix one thing, you select the thing. Its documentation describes pointing at a region and asking for a colour or a material change there, with the rest untouched.
That changes your first prompt too. With Seedream 5 it is worth asking for the full layout in one go, because fixing a detail later is cheap. With Nano Banana Pro a detail fix means another full generation, so it pays to get the description right before you spend the first one.
| Task | Nano Banana Pro | Seedream 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Fix one wrong word on a poster | Regenerate with the correction stated and the rest pinned | Select that text and change it |
| Change a product’s colour | Describe the object and say nothing else changes | Box or lasso the object, ask for the colour |
| Reuse the headline on ten sizes | Regenerate at each ratio | Pull the text layer out and place it yourself |
| Build a factual explainer | Name the real subject, let its knowledge fill in | Supply the facts in the prompt yourself |
Where to run each one
Of the five platforms on this site, OpenArt is the only one that names both. It lists Seedream 5 in Pro and Lite, and Nano Banana Pro. So it is the one place you can run the same brief through both.
Figma Weave carries both as well, listing Seedream V5 and Nano Banana Pro, though its pricing page is not a complete catalogue.
Creatify carries Nano Banana Pro from its Starter plan and does not name Seedream 5. ImagineArt and Vosu name neither of these two exact versions.
If you want the Seedream 5 selection tools rather than plain prompting, check before you pay. A platform can carry the model and still expose only a prompt box.
What this comparison does not cover
I have not generated the same poster with both and compared them. My hands-on time is with Nano Banana Pro. Seedream 5 here is documentation only.
It cannot tell you whose text comes out cleaner. Google publishes an error rate for single-line text. ByteDance publishes a language count. Those are not the same measurement and cannot be scored against each other.
I could not verify Seedream 5’s watermarking. A watermark setting is documented for neighbouring model builds in the same family, not for the Pro model itself.
I could not verify whether Seedream 5 grounds its output in web search. Several sources claim it. None of them was an official ByteDance page.
I could not verify a single aspect ratio list for Nano Banana Pro, because Google publishes two lists that disagree.
Questions
Which one should I use for an infographic?
Both are built for it. Choose Nano Banana Pro if the facts have to be right and you want 4K. Choose Seedream 5 if you expect many rounds of edits, or if you want the finished piece back in layers.
Is Seedream 5 really 4K?
Not by any source I could verify. Its hosts cap Pro at 2048 pixels and Lite at 3072. The 4K figure circulating online appears to describe an upscale, not a native output.
What is the difference between Seedream 5 Pro and Lite?
Lite goes to a higher pixel size and takes 14 reference images. Pro takes 10. Beyond that the published differences are thin, and platforms often expose only one of the two.
Can I put the same character in ten images with either?
Nano Banana Pro documents consistency for up to 5 people in one image, which is a different promise from the same person across ten separate jobs. Neither maker publishes a clear number for that. Reference images help on both, and the platform you use may add its own character feature.
Does either one leave a visible mark on my image?
Google adds an invisible SynthID mark to every output, and adds a visible mark on some consumer tiers. For Seedream 5 I could not confirm the behaviour of the Pro model. Check the platform’s own terms before you ship client work.