High-volume, cost-sensitive work
Choose Gemini 3 Flash
Gemini 3 Flash costs 25% less on a typical mix of three input tokens for every output token ($1.13 against $1.50 per million tokens).
Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Gemini 3 Flash: price, context and capabilities
Choose Gemini 3.8 Flash for the latest release. Choose Gemini 3 Flash for high-volume, cost-sensitive work, writing and code generation and reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents).
In short
- Gemini 3 Flash is 25% cheaper than Gemini 3.8 Flash at the headline price ($1.13 / 1M tokens vs $1.50 / 1M tokens).
- Both accept 1.05M tokens per request.
- Gemini 3.8 Flash is the newer model (September 2026, against December 2025).
Which should you choose?
Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.
Writing and code generation
Choose Gemini 3 Flash
Gemini 3 Flash charges $3.00 per million output tokens, against $3.75 for Gemini 3.8 Flash. Output dominates the bill when answers are long.
Reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents)
Choose Gemini 3 Flash
Gemini 3 Flash charges $0.05 per million cached input tokens, against $0.08 for Gemini 3.8 Flash.
Latest release
Choose Gemini 3.8 Flash
Gemini 3.8 Flash is the newer release (September 2026, against December 2025 for Gemini 3 Flash).
Monthly cost at three volumes
| Volume | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 3 Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype: 1M input, 250K output tokens | $1.69 | $1.25 | Gemini 3 Flash, $0.44 less |
| Production: 20M input, 5M output tokens | $33.75 | $25.00 | Gemini 3 Flash, $8.75 less |
| Scale: 500M input, 100M output tokens | $750.00 | $550.00 | Gemini 3 Flash, $200.00 less |
Standard rates, without caching or batch discounts. Volumes are per month.
Specifications side by side
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 3 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | ||
| Category | Language models | Language models |
| Status | Generally available | Legacy |
| Headline price | $1.50 / 1M tokens | $1.13 / 1M tokens |
| Input | $0.75 / 1M tokens | $0.50 / 1M tokens |
| Output | $3.75 / 1M tokens | $3.00 / 1M tokens |
| Cached input | $0.075 / 1M tokens | $0.05 / 1M tokens |
| Context window | 1.05M | 1.05M |
| Max output | 66k | 66k |
| Released | September 2026 | December 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | No data | No data |
| Licence | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Capabilities | Vision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API | Vision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API |
| API model id | gemini-3.8-flash | gemini-3-flash-preview |
Benchmarks side by side
Leader in bold.
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 3 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence Index | 40.9 | No data |
| SciCode | 56.6% | No data |
| GPQA Diamond | 95.3% | No data |
| Humanity's Last Exam | 47.8% | No data |
| MMMU-Pro (visual reasoning) | 85.6% | No data |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 81.3% | No data |
Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis, run the same way for every model, at the reasoning setting shown. Percentages unless marked as an index.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose Gemini 3.8 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash?
Choose Gemini 3.8 Flash for the latest release. Choose Gemini 3 Flash for high-volume, cost-sensitive work, writing and code generation and reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents).
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash?
Gemini 3 Flash is 25% cheaper than Gemini 3.8 Flash at the headline price ($1.13 / 1M tokens vs $1.50 / 1M tokens).
Which has the larger context window, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash?
Both accept 1.05M tokens per request.
What is the difference between Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash?
Gemini 3.8 Flash is made by Google and Gemini 3 Flash by Google. Gemini 3 Flash is 25% cheaper than Gemini 3.8 Flash at the headline price ($1.13 / 1M tokens vs $1.50 / 1M tokens). Both accept 1.05M tokens per request. Gemini 3.8 Flash is the newer model (September 2026, against December 2025).
How much do Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash cost per month?
At 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month, Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $33.75 and Gemini 3 Flash costs $25.00, at standard rates.
Which is newer, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash?
Gemini 3.8 Flash was released on September 2026 and Gemini 3 Flash on December 2025.