innFactory AI Consulting from Rosenheim advises companies in the DACH region on GDPR-compliant integration of image generation models. Google Imagen is shut down: Imagen 4 (Standard, Fast, Ultra) ran on the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform until 30 June 2026 and in the Gemini API until 17 August 2026; Imagen 3 had already been shut down on 10 November 2025. In the Gemini API, Google names Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1) as the replacement. This page documents Imagen as a reference and shows the migration path. As of October 2026.
Current models at a glance
All Imagen models are shut down. Google’s image model successor is the Gemini family with native image output (Nano Banana):
| Former Imagen model | Status | Successor per Google |
|---|---|---|
imagen-4.0-generate-001 (Standard) | shut down (Agent Platform 30 June 2026, Gemini API 17 August 2026) | gemini-nano-banana-2.1 |
imagen-4.0-ultra-generate-001 | shut down (as above) | gemini-nano-banana-2.1 |
imagen-4.0-fast-generate-001 | shut down (as above) | gemini-nano-banana-2.1 |
imagen-3.0-generate-002 | shut down (10 November 2025 in the Gemini API) | gemini-nano-banana-2.1 |
What Imagen 4 was
Imagen 4 was introduced as a public preview on Vertex AI in May 2025 and reached GA status in August 2025 in three variants: Ultra (quality tier above Standard, up to 2K resolution), Standard (balanced quality and price, up to 2048×2048 pixels) and Fast (generation times sometimes under 3 seconds). Its last list prices ranged from USD 0.02 to USD 0.06 per image per Google.
Pricing
Imagen is shut down, so there are no current prices. Per the Gemini API pricing page, the successors cost: Nano Banana 2.1 USD 0.0336 per 1K image, USD 0.0504 per 2K image and USD 0.113 per 4K image; details on the Nano Banana page.
EU availability and GDPR
Since Imagen is no longer usable, the EU question depends on the successors:
| Model | Access route | Regions per model page |
|---|---|---|
| Nano Banana 2.1 | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform | global only |
Nano Banana Pro (gemini-3-pro-image) | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform | global only |
Nano Banana 2 (gemini-3.1-flash-image) | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform | global; multi-region eu and us |
Nano Banana (gemini-2.5-flash-image, deprecated) | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform | global, EU single regions (not Frankfurt) |
An EU data residency commitment therefore exists only for Nano Banana 2 in the EU multi-region endpoint, which is deprecated in the Gemini API; details on the Nano Banana and Gemini 2.5 Flash Image pages.
Migration and breaking changes
- Replace model names:
imagen-4.0-*andimagen-3.0-*withgemini-nano-banana-2.1(Gemini API). On the Agent Platform, the version overview namesgemini-2.5-flash-imageas the upgrade forimagen-4.0-*,imagen-3.0-*andimagegeneration@002–@006; that model is itself deprecated (retirement 15 March 2027). We therefore recommend a current successor directly. - API change: Instead of
client.models.generate_images(Imagen),client.models.generate_contentis used; the response returns image data as content parts instead of a dedicated Imagen response object. - Upscaling: We could not verify current availability of
imagen-4.0-upscale-preview: the Agent Platform documentation no longer has Imagen model pages, while the pricing page still lists Imagen 4 upscaling. For upscaling workflows, please check the status with Google.
Model lifecycle
| Model | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|
imagen-4.0-generate-001, imagen-4.0-ultra-generate-001, imagen-4.0-fast-generate-001 | shut down | 30 June 2026 (Agent Platform), 17 August 2026 (Gemini API) |
imagen-4.0-generate-preview-06-06, imagen-4.0-ultra-generate-preview-06-06 | shut down | 17 February 2026 (Gemini API) |
imagen-3.0-generate-002 | shut down | 10 November 2025 (Gemini API), 30 June 2026 (Agent Platform) |
imagegeneration@002 to @006 | shut down | 30 June 2026 (Agent Platform) |
The Gemini API documentation now describes Imagen as “shut down”; its model overview lists “Imagen 4 (Shut down)”.
Integration with CompanyGPT
For image generation in CompanyGPT, we use the Nano Banana models instead of Imagen or, depending on requirements, open-weight models such as Flux. The innFactory AI Gateway adds budgets and access control across several image models.
Our recommendation
Existing Imagen integrations must be migrated, since all endpoints are shut down. For most marketing and product workflows we recommend Nano Banana 2.1 (quality, up to 4K); for high quality requirements Nano Banana Pro. Both run on the Agent Platform in global only. If EU data residency is mandatory, we review Nano Banana 2 via the EU multi-region endpoint with you, or alternatives such as Flux (Black Forest Labs) or Stability AI. New workloads should no longer build on gemini-2.5-flash-image. For advice on the right image model strategy and the migration of existing Imagen workflows, contact us.