Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon: pricing and benchmarks
Gemini 3.6 Flash is 63% cheaper on input tokens ($0.75 vs $2.00 per 1M). Gemini 3.6 Flash is 63% cheaper on output tokens ($3.75 vs $10.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $412.50 a month versus $1,100 for Gemini 4 Argon, 63% less. Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 154.2 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Prices verified October 17, 2026.
Which should you choose?
Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 154.2 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Gemini 4 Argon scores 86.0% on FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3) vs 58.9% for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $1.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 input-to-output mix) vs $4.00 for Gemini 4 Argon, 63% less.
A trade-off: Gemini 4 Argon is 10.3 ECI points more capable but costs 2.7x as much as Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Pricing and specs
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | ||
| API model ID | gemini-3.6-flash | gemini-4-argon |
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.75 | $2.00 |
| Cached input / 1M tokens | $0.075 | $0.10 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $3.75 | $10.00 |
| 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 3.6 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 154.2 | 164.6 |
| GPQA Diamond· Science reasoning | 94.1% | 96.4% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3)· Advanced math | 58.9% | 86.0% |
| SimpleQA Verified· Factual accuracy | 66.2% | 76.0% |
| ARC-AGI-2· Abstract reasoning | 60.4% | — |
| DeepSWE· Coding | 46.7% | — |
| APEX-Agents· Agentic work | 46.9% | 82.4% |
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 3.6 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Support chatbot 100,000 replies a month, ~1,500 input tokens (system prompt + history) and ~400 output tokens each. | $262.50 | $700.00 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 63% cheaper |
Document Q&A (RAG) 50,000 questions a month with ~8,000 tokens of retrieved context and ~600 output tokens each. | $412.50 | $1,100 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 63% 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. | $186.00 | $468.00 | Gemini 3.6 Flash 60% 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 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon cost calculator
- $412.50/mo$0.0083 / request
- Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle$1,100/mo$0.02 / 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 3.6 Flash pricing notes
Google’s previous-generation Flash model, which replaced Gemini 3.5 Flash in October 2026.
- Introductory price through December 31, 2026. From January 1, 2027: $1.50 input, $0.15 cached, $7.50 output per 1M tokens.
- Requests to the retired gemini-3.5-flash model ID are routed to Gemini 3.6 Flash.
- Output price includes thinking tokens.
- Priority inference costs 1.8x the standard rate.
Gemini 4 Argon pricing notes
Google’s flagship reasoning model for complex coding, agents, math and science.
- Introductory price through November 30, 2026. From December 1, 2026: $4 input, $0.20 cached, $20 output per 1M tokens.
- Not available on the Gemini API free tier.
- Output price includes thinking tokens.
- Max output is 65,536 tokens by default and up to 1,048,576 with long decode.
- Implicit caching only; explicit context caching is not supported.
- Priority inference costs 1.8x the standard rate.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Gemini 3.6 Flash cheaper than Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 3.6 Flash is 63% cheaper on input tokens ($0.75 vs $2.00 per 1M). Gemini 3.6 Flash is 63% cheaper on output tokens ($3.75 vs $10.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $412.50 a month versus $1,100 for Gemini 4 Argon, 63% less.
- Which is more capable, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 154.2 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
- How much does Gemini 3.6 Flash cost per 1M tokens?
- Gemini 3.6 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.
- How much does Gemini 4 Argon cost per 1M tokens?
- Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens, and $0.10 per 1M cached input tokens on Google’s standard tier.
- Which has the larger context window, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
- Both offer a 1.05M-token context window.