Head-to-head comparison

Gemini 3.8 Flash vs. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite

Compare published benchmark results from matching versions and cohorts, API pricing, and technical specifications. Any documented test setup differences remain visible.

shared result series: 22
distinct benchmarks: 22
latest retrieval: 2026-09-04

First modelSecond model

Specifications

General specifications

Release date, availability, context window, architecture, and published parameter counts at a glance. Undisclosed details remain marked as unavailable.

Specifications for Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Attribute	Gemini 3.8 Flash	Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Provider	Google	Google
Released	Sep 2, 2026	Jul 21, 2026
Availability	Active	Active
Model type	Proprietary	Proprietary
Parameters	Not published	Not published
Architecture	Not published	Not published
Context window	1,048,576 tokens	1,048,576 tokens
Knowledge cutoff	March 2026	Not published
Technical sources	Model, Knowledge cutoff	Model

Pricing

API pricing compared

The table compares official standard API rates per 1M tokens, including published cache pricing. Batch, fast, priority, regional surcharges, tool calls, and cloud platform pricing are excluded.

API pricing for Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Price type	Gemini 3.8 Flash	Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
API input	$0.75	$0.3
API output	$3.75	$2.5
Cache read	$0.07	$0.03
Cache write (5 min.)	Not listed	Not listed
Cache write (1 hr.)	Not listed	Not listed
Price verified	09/02/2026 Source	07/30/2026 Source

Gemini 3.8 FlashGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite

API inputUSD per 1M tokens, base tier

Gemini 3.8 Flash$0.75

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$0.3

API outputUSD per 1M tokens, base tier

Gemini 3.8 Flash$3.75

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$2.5

Cache readUSD per 1M tokens, base tier

Gemini 3.8 Flash$0.075

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$0.03

Key to the marks:better valuebetter, but not conclusivetie

Pricing by provider

Direct developer pricing and provider endpoint tariffs routed through OpenRouter are listed separately. Prices are in USD per 1M tokens. Context-dependent direct tiers plus regional, Flex, Priority, and other OpenRouter tariffs remain individually identifiable.

Provider pricing for Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Model	Provider	Purchase route and tariff	Input per 1M tokens	Output per 1M tokens	Source
Gemini 3.8 Flash	Google	Direct from developerStandard API	$0.75	$3.75	Source09/02/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/global	$0.75	$3.75	Source09/08/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/global/flex	Lowest listed price: $0.375	Lowest listed price: $1.875	Source09/08/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/global/priority	$1.35	$6.75	Source09/08/2026
	Google AI Studio	Via OpenRoutergoogle-ai-studio	$0.75	$3.75	Source09/08/2026
	Google AI Studio	Via OpenRoutergoogle-ai-studio/flex	Lowest listed price: $0.375	Lowest listed price: $1.875	Source09/08/2026
	Google AI Studio	Via OpenRoutergoogle-ai-studio/priority	$1.35	$6.75	Source09/08/2026
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite	Google	Direct from developerStandard API	$0.3	$2.5	Source07/30/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/eu	$0.33	$2.75	Source09/08/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/global	$0.3	$2.5	Source09/08/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/global/flex	Lowest listed price: $0.15	Lowest listed price: $1.25	Source09/08/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/global/priority	$0.54	$4.5	Source09/08/2026
	Google	Via OpenRoutergoogle-vertex/us	$0.33	$2.75	Source09/08/2026
	Google AI Studio	Via OpenRoutergoogle-ai-studio	$0.3	$2.5	Source09/08/2026
	Google AI Studio	Via OpenRoutergoogle-ai-studio/flex	Lowest listed price: $0.15	Lowest listed price: $1.25	Source09/08/2026
	Google AI Studio	Via OpenRoutergoogle-ai-studio/priority	$0.54	$4.5	Source09/08/2026

Performance

Shared benchmarks

Only published results with the same benchmark version, task, metric, and comparison cohort are paired. Different reasoning levels, agents, harnesses, or output limits appear directly in the table.

Capability profile from matched benchmarks

Each axis averages directly matched benchmark families. A value of 100 means the stronger value within this pair, not a universal quality score.

Gemini 3.8 Flash

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite

Coding: 100 / 49.2 (5 benchmark families)

Reasoning: 100 / 88.8 (1 benchmark family)

Knowledge: 100 / 95.1 (1 benchmark family)

Finance: 98.8 / 83.7 (4 benchmark families)

Legal: 100 / 44.1 (3 benchmark families)

Agentic tasks: 100 / 61.8 (1 benchmark family)

Multimodal: 100 / 93.8 (1 benchmark family)

Productivity: 100 / 79.4 (1 benchmark family)

22 matched rows from 22 benchmark families were considered. The radar shows 8 of 12 comparable categories.

Gemini 3.8 FlashGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite

Code MigrationOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash36.546 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite6.148 %

CyberBenchOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash43.75 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite72.316 %

EMBOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash72.196 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite43.231 %

Finance Agent (v2)Overall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash61.435 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite47.442 %

GPQA DiamondOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash94.444 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite83.838 %

Harvey's Legal Agent BenchmarkOverall · Task fully resolved. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash10 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite0 %

Legal Research BenchOverall · All-pass. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash38.942 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite13.942 %

LegalBenchOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash86.993 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite84.073 %

LiveCodeBench v6Overall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash89.484 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite79.014 %

MedCodeOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash48.135 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite43.489 %

MedScribeOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash84.496 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite70.886 %

MMLU-ProOverall. Higher is better. No documented setup difference

Gemini 3.8 Flash90.221 %

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite85.836 %

Key to the marks:better valuebetter, but not conclusivetie

Benchmark scores for Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Benchmark and task	Gemini 3.8 Flash	Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite	Source
Code MigrationOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner36.546 %	6.148 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
CyberBenchOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	43.75 %	Winner72.316 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
EMBOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner72.196 %	43.231 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
Finance Agent (v2)Overall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 2Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner61.435 %	47.442 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
GPQA DiamondOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner94.444 %	83.838 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
Harvey's Legal Agent BenchmarkOverall · Task fully resolved Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: task resolution rateScoring: Higher is better	Winner10 %	0 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
Legal Research BenchOverall · All-pass Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: all-pass rateScoring: Higher is better	Winner38.942 %	13.942 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
LegalBenchOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner86.993 %	84.073 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
LiveCodeBench v6Overall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner89.484 %	79.014 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
MedCodeOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner48.135 %	43.489 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
MedScribeOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner84.496 %	70.886 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
MMLU-ProOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner90.221 %	85.836 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
MMMU-ProOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner89.075 %	83.584 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
MortgageTaxOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	65.342 %	Winner68.68 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
ProgramBenchOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner1 %	0 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
Public Benefits Bench v1.1Overall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1.1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner65.291 %	51.827 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
SAGEOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	35.064 %	Winner47.303 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
SWE-bench VerifiedOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner80 %	75 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
TaxEval v2Overall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 2Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner74.448 %	72.608 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/01/2026
Terminal-Bench 2.1Overall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 2.1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is better	Winner81.273 %	50.187 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
Vals IndexOverall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 2Metric: weighted index scoreScoring: Higher is better	Winner62.252 %	36.711 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
Vibe Code Bench v1.1Overall Test details No documented difference in the test setupVersion: 1.1Metric: accuracyScoring: Higher is betterSettings: Harness: OpenHands	Winner78.651 %	37.161 %	Vals AI Source details Data as of: 09/03/2026
Key to the marks:better valuebetter, but not conclusivetie

Our model tests

Community tests you can inspect

Compare how the models respond to the same prompt. Each test shows the first attempt, with no subsequent fixes to the generated code. These results do not contribute to an overall score.

Pelican on a bicycle

A community classic for free-form SVG drawing.

Gemini 3.8 Flash

API access was unavailable for this run. The model was not evaluated.

First attempt

Run date: 7 Sept 2026
API provider: openrouter
Requested API model: google/gemini-3.8-flash
Pinned endpoint: Google AI Studio | google/gemini-3.8-flash-20260902
Reasoning setting: high
Temperature: Provider default
Token limit including reasoning: 8,192 tokens
Test protocol: community-visual-tests-v1
Technical checks: Not run

Not yet visually reviewed. A successful recording does not confirm correct physics or full compliance with the prompt.

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite

API access was unavailable for this run. The model was not evaluated.

First attempt

Run date: 7 Sept 2026
API provider: openrouter
Requested API model: google/gemini-3.5-flash-lite
Pinned endpoint: Google AI Studio | google/gemini-3.5-flash-lite-20260721
Reasoning setting: high
Temperature: Provider default
Token limit including reasoning: 8,192 tokens
Test protocol: community-visual-tests-v1
Technical checks: Not run

Not yet visually reviewed. A successful recording does not confirm correct physics or full compliance with the prompt.

Prompt and test conditions

Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle

Token limit including reasoning: 8,192 tokens

Task origin (Simon Willison)

How to read this comparison

Winning one benchmark is not an overall verdict

Your workload, budget, and required context length matter most. A coding benchmark says little about visual understanding or agent performance.

The standard price table uses direct developer rates. The provider comparison labels OpenRouter endpoints, regions, and special tariffs separately.

Every result links to its measurement source and retrieval date. Labels distinguish vendor reports, official benchmark leaderboards, and independent evaluations. Disputed or archived results are excluded.

More matchups

Compare Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite with other leading models using the same data and benchmark logic.

View the complete LLM comparison