Best AI Image Editors 2025: Qwen vs Nano Banana

TL;DR

Two new AI image editors dominated this week: Qwen Image Edit, an open Apache 2.0 tool from Alibaba usable free at qwen.ai, and Nano Banana, widely believed to be Google's, accessible free through LM Arena's battle mode. Nano Banana stands out by editing only targeted parts of an image, like cartoonizing a single ramen bowl while leaving the rest untouched.

Transcript

There was a ton of really cool AI updates this week. We have AI image editors that could potentially replace Photoshop. Tons of updates out of Google and their made by Google event. And even teases around GPT6. Yes, only a couple weeks after GPT5, we're already talking about GPT6. All that and more in today's AI news breakdown. I don't want to wast... Read More

Key Insights

• Qwen Image Edit is an open image editor from Chinese company Alibaba, released under the Apache 2.0 license. It lets users upload an image and describe edits like changing a person's angle, restyling to Ghibli, or adding text such as a sign.
• Qwen Image Edit is free to use right now at qwen.ai. After logging in, users click the image edit button, upload a picture, and type how they want it edited, such as replacing a polka dot shirt with a light blue shirt.
• Nano Banana is an image editor that feels even more powerful than Qwen, capable of consistent multi-image composites like placing Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai together on a beach while keeping identities and background recognizable.
• Nano Banana's standout ability is editing only part of an image. It cartoonized just a ramen bowl while keeping everything else the same, whereas ChatGPT and Qwen turned the entire image into a cartoon.
• Nano Banana excels at colorizing and upscaling black and white photos, and at combining two separate images, such as making Steve Jobs and the narrator appear seated together with adjusted lighting so they look in the same room.
• Nano Banana's creator was not officially announced, but most believe it is Google because Logan Kilpatrick of Google AI Studio tweeted a banana picture and Josh Woodward, VP of Google Labs and Gemini, posted about a banana.
• Nano Banana is accessed free through LM Arena at lmarena.ai, but only in battle mode, which shows two blind models side by side. Users may need several attempts before the tool assigns Nano Banana as one of the options.
• These editors point toward replacing manual Photoshop work, since users can supply one or more images, describe the desired result, and let the model composite elements and edit backgrounds automatically instead of cropping by hand.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is Qwen Image Edit and how much does it cost?

Qwen Image Edit is an AI image editor from the Chinese company Alibaba, released as an open version under the Apache 2.0 license. It works similarly to ChatGPT image editing, letting you upload an image and prompt changes like adjusting a person's angle, adding a hat, restyling to Ghibli or 3D cartoon, or adding a sign. It is completely free to use right now through the Qwen Chat website at qwen.ai.

Q: How do you use Qwen Image Edit?

Go to qwen.ai and log in, then click the image edit button at the bottom of the screen. It prompts you to upload a picture and describe how you would like it edited. In the demo the tool auto-filled a prompt to replace a polka dot shirt with a light blue shirt, and it did exactly that. The narrator uploaded his own photo, requested a side view, and got an accurate profile result in seconds.

Q: What is Nano Banana and who made it?

Nano Banana is an AI image editor that performs the same kind of prompt-based edits as Qwen but feels even more powerful. Its creator was not officially announced, but most people believe it is Google. That belief comes from Logan Kilpatrick, lead of product at Google AI Studio, tweeting a picture of a banana, and Josh Woodward, VP of Google Labs and the Gemini app, posting about a banana.

Q: How can you use Nano Banana for free?

Nano Banana is available free through LM Arena at lmarena.ai, a site for blind-testing models. It only appears in battle mode, which shows two blind models side by side, not in side-by-side chat or direct chat. You turn on generate images, drag in your image, and prompt it. You may need several attempts because the model is assigned randomly, but there is no limit on tries.

Q: Why is Nano Banana considered better than other image editors?

Nano Banana's key advantage is editing only a targeted part of an image while leaving the rest unchanged. When given a photo and told to make just the ramen bowl look like a 2D whimsical hand-drawn anime illustration, it did exactly that. In contrast, ChatGPT and Qwen Image Edit turned the entire image into a cartoon. It also handles consistent multi-image composites and preserves identities and backgrounds well.

Q: Can these AI image editors replace Photoshop?

The narrator argues they potentially can. Rather than cropping around objects and manually compositing elements into a background in Photoshop, you can give these models one or multiple images, tell them what you want the result to look like, and they essentially do the photoshopping for you. As the models improve, he expects users will increasingly describe desired edits in plain language instead of doing manual editing work.

Q: What can Nano Banana do with old or black and white photos?

Nano Banana is very good at colorizing and upscaling black and white photos. The narrator fed it a black and white photo he found online with a prompt to colorize and upscale it, and got a strong result. He also combined two separate images, placing himself next to Steve Jobs with adjusted lighting and colors so they looked in the same room, then further edited them onto a skyscraper and into a nighttime scene.

Q: What kinds of edits can you make with these AI image tools?

The tools handle a wide range of prompt-based edits. Examples include changing a subject's viewing angle, adding clothing or accessories like hats and glasses, restyling images into Ghibli, 3D cartoon, or anime looks, adding text signs, swapping objects such as a handbag or book cover using a second reference image, changing scenes to nighttime with a city skyline, and combining multiple people into one natural composite image.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• This weekly AI roundup highlights two new image editors generating buzz. Qwen Image Edit from Alibaba is open under Apache 2.0 and free at qwen.ai, letting users upload photos and describe edits like changing angles, restyling to Ghibli, or adding text signs to images.

• Nano Banana feels even more powerful, handling multi-image composites, colorizing black and white photos, and precisely editing only part of an image, such as cartoonizing a single ramen bowl. It is widely believed to be Google's, based on banana-themed tweets from Google AI Studio and Gemini leaders.

• Nano Banana is currently accessible free through LM Arena's battle mode at lmarena.ai, though it may take repeated attempts to get the model. The narrator argues these tools point toward replacing manual Photoshop compositing, letting users describe results instead of editing by hand.