Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: pricing and benchmarks
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is 60% cheaper on input tokens ($0.30 vs $0.75 per 1M). Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is 33% cheaper on output tokens ($2.50 vs $3.75 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite costs $195.00 a month versus $412.50 for Gemini 3.8 Flash, 53% less. Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 156.5 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 145.1 for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
Prices verified September 14, 2026.
Which should you choose?
Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 156.5 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 145.1 for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 68.4% on FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3) vs 26.0% for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.85 per 1M tokens (3:1 input-to-output mix) vs $1.50 for Gemini 3.8 Flash, 43% less.
A trade-off: Gemini 3.8 Flash is 11.4 ECI points more capable but costs 1.8x as much as Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
Pricing and specs
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Gemini 3.8 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | ||
| API model ID | gemini-3.5-flash-lite | gemini-3.8-flash |
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.30 | $0.75 |
| Cached input / 1M tokens | $0.03 | $0.075 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $2.50 | $3.75 |
| Long-context rates | — | — |
| Context window | 1.05M tokens | 1.05M tokens |
| Max output | 66K tokens | 66K tokens |
| Batch discount | 50% off | 50% off |
Benchmarks
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Gemini 3.8 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 145.1 | 156.5 |
| GPQA Diamond· Science reasoning | 77.8% | 93.9% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3)· Advanced math | 26.0% | 68.4% |
| SimpleQA Verified· Factual accuracy | — | 69.7% |
| ARC-AGI-2· Abstract reasoning | 10.3% | — |
| DeepSWE· Coding | — | 73.8% |
| APEX-Agents· Agentic work | — | — |
Source: Epoch AI, best recorded result per model (CC BY 4.0). A dash means no published score. See all benchmarks
Monthly cost for real workloads
| Workload | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Support chatbot 100,000 replies a month, ~1,500 input tokens (system prompt + history) and ~400 output tokens each. | $145.00 | $262.50 | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite 45% cheaper |
Document Q&A (RAG) 50,000 questions a month with ~8,000 tokens of retrieved context and ~600 output tokens each. | $195.00 | $412.50 | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite 53% cheaper |
Coding agent 10,000 agent steps a month, ~40,000 input tokens each (70% read from the prompt cache) and ~2,000 output tokens. | $94.40 | $186.00 | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite 49% cheaper |
Estimates use standard list prices and ignore cache-write surcharges. Different tokenizers can count the same text differently, so test with your own prompts.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemini 3.8 Flash cost calculator
- $195.00/mo$0.0039 / request
- Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle$412.50/mo$0.0083 / request
Standard-tier list prices. Long-context rates apply automatically where the provider publishes a threshold. Excludes cache-write surcharges, taxes, batch and volume discounts.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite pricing notes
Google’s lowest-cost Gemini 3.5 model for high-volume work.
- The same input price applies to text, image, video and audio.
- Output price includes thinking tokens.
Gemini 3.8 Flash pricing notes
Google’s newest Flash model, with thinking, tool use and a 1M-token context window.
- Introductory price through December 31, 2026. From January 1, 2027: $1.50 input, $0.15 cached, $7.50 output per 1M tokens.
- Output price includes thinking tokens.
- Priority inference costs 1.8x the standard rate.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite cheaper than Gemini 3.8 Flash?
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is 60% cheaper on input tokens ($0.30 vs $0.75 per 1M). Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is 33% cheaper on output tokens ($2.50 vs $3.75 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite costs $195.00 a month versus $412.50 for Gemini 3.8 Flash, 53% less.
- Which is more capable, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Gemini 3.8 Flash?
- Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 156.5 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 145.1 for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.
- How much does Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite cost per 1M tokens?
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $2.50 per 1M output tokens, and $0.03 per 1M cached input tokens on Google’s standard tier.
- How much does Gemini 3.8 Flash cost per 1M tokens?
- Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.75 per 1M input tokens and $3.75 per 1M output tokens, and $0.075 per 1M cached input tokens on Google’s standard tier.
- Which has the larger context window, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Gemini 3.8 Flash?
- Both offer a 1.05M-token context window.