Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 3.8 Flash
Side-by-side comparison of API pricing, specs, benchmarks, and capabilities
| Specification |
Gemini 3.6 FlashIntro price
by Google
|
Gemini 3.8 FlashIntro price
by Google
|
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Status | Current flagship | Current flagship |
| Released | ||
| Pricing per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.750/Mtok | $0.750/Mtok |
| Output | $3.75/Mtok | $3.75/Mtok |
| Blended avg | $1.50/Mtok | $1.50/Mtok |
| Cached input | $0.075/Mtok | $0.075/Mtok |
| Price basis | Google's Gemini API pricing page prints a dated, two-phase schedule for this model: $0.75 per 1M input tokens through December 31, 2026, rising to $1.50 on January 1, 2027, and $3.75 per 1M output tokens through December 31, 2026, rising to $7.50. Context caching follows the same dates ($0.075, then $0.15). We publish the rate you would pay today and re-verify it before the changeover date. Checked 2026-08-13 against ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing; the same page listed a flat $1.50/$7.50 on 2026-08-09, so this is a genuine 50% price cut rather than a correction to an earlier mistake. | Google's Gemini API pricing page prints a dated, two-phase schedule for this model, the same Standard tier as Gemini 3.7 Flash: $0.75 per 1M input tokens through December 31, 2026, rising to $1.50 on January 1, 2027, and $3.75 per 1M output tokens through December 31, 2026, rising to $7.50. Context caching follows the same dates ($0.075, then $0.15). We publish the rate you would pay today and re-verify it before the changeover date. Note that resellers may quote a lower figure: OpenRouter's ':batch' route for this model shows $0.375/$1.875, which is Google's own Batch tier — exactly half the standard rate, and not what an ordinary API call is billed. We publish the standard rate. Checked 2026-09-03 against ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing, anchored on the section's API-name line 'Gemini 3.8 Flash gemini-3.8-flash'. |
| Specifications | ||
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Parameters | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Speed (TPS) | — | — |
| Modalities | ||
| Input |
textimageaudiovideo
|
textimageaudiovideo
|
| Benchmarks sources: Artificial Analysis, Google DeepMind Gemini 3.6 Flash model card, LMSYS Chatbot Arena (UC Berkeley) / Artificial Analysis | ||
| Independent composite scores measured for both models — each on its own scale | ||
| AA Intelligence Index | 51.6 | 58.7 |
| AA Agentic Index | 40.5 | 50 |
| AA-Omniscience Index (−100–100) | 22.1 | 29.6 |
| GDPval-AA v2 | 1422.3 ELO | 1545.5 ELO |
| LMSYS Chatbot Arena | 1480.2 ELO | 1493.8 ELO |
| Per-benchmark results published for Gemini 3.6 Flash only — no independent per-benchmark scores exist for Gemini 3.8 Flash yet | ||
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 78 vendor | — |
| OSWorld-Verified | 83 vendor | — |
| Providers | ||
| Available from |
Google — $0.750/$3.75/Mtok
|
Google — $0.750/$3.75/Mtok
|
Cost at scale
1M tokens · 50/50 input/output| Volume | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M tokens | $1.5 | $1.5 | $0 (0%) |
| 10M tokens | $15 | $15 | $0 (0%) |
| 100M tokens | $150 | $150 | $0 (0%) |
| 1000M tokens | $1500 | $1500 | $0 (0%) |
When to pick which
distilled from the pricing and spec data above
Pick Gemini 3.6 Flash if…
- this pairing gives Gemini 3.6 Flash no edge on price, context, cache discount, or measured performance — pick it only for qualitative fit (ecosystem, compliance, model behavior on your prompts)
Pick Gemini 3.8 Flash if…
- this pairing gives Gemini 3.8 Flash no edge on price, context, cache discount, or measured performance — pick it only for qualitative fit (ecosystem, compliance, model behavior on your prompts)
Price movement
recorded changes since we began tracking each model · last checked| Model | Changes | Latest move | Old → new $/M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | 1 | price cut on | $1.5/$7.5 → $0.75/$3.75/Mtok |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | 0 | — no move | Stable since we began tracking — no change recorded |
Only Gemini 3.6 Flash has changed price since we began tracking; Gemini 3.8 Flash has held steady.
See all recent price moves →
MODELPRICEWATCH.COM · 2026-09-03
Try Gemini 3.6 Flash on Google
The cheaper option here — Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $1.50/Mtok blended on Google.
Summary
Gemini 3.6 Flash by Google costs $0.750/Mtok input and $3.75/Mtok output, with a 1M-token context window. It supports text, image, audio, video input.
Gemini 3.8 Flash by Google costs $0.750/Mtok input and $3.75/Mtok output, with a 1M-token context window. It supports text, image, audio, video input.
Note: Pricing is per million tokens. Actual costs vary with usage patterns, prompt caching, and batch discounts. Always verify against official provider pricing pages.
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