Gemini 3 Flash vs GPT-5 mini: Best Budget LLM in 2026?
Gemini 3 Flash and GPT-5 mini are the best options when you want significant capability without flagship prices. Both cost under $2/1M blended. Both score in the mid-30s on the AA Intelligence Index. The difference comes down to speed vs reasoning depth.
Last updated: February 2026
Our Pick
Gemini 3 Flash
Gemini 3 Flash wins for most use cases at this price tier. It is faster (170 t/s vs 73), natively multimodal with video and audio support, and has a free consumer product. GPT-5 mini wins if you specifically need reasoning-model depth: its medium-effort thinking mode handles multi-step problems more reliably, which matters for coding, math, and complex analysis at scale.
Try Gemini 3 FlashAt a glance
| Feature | Gemini 3 Flash | GPT-5 mini |
|---|---|---|
| Rating | 7.3 / 10 | 7.3 / 10 |
| Provider | OpenAI | |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 400K tokens |
| Input (per 1M tokens) | Free | $0.25 |
| Output (per 1M tokens) | Free | $2 |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | No |
Use case breakdown
170 tokens per second vs 73. Gemini 3 Flash is more than twice as fast — important for real-time streaming applications.
$0.69/1M blended vs $1.13/1M. GPT-5 mini is 40% cheaper per token despite having a higher AA Intelligence Index score (39 vs 35).
AA Index 39 (GPT-5 mini, reasoning mode) vs 35 (Gemini 3 Flash). GPT-5 mini's reasoning architecture gives it an edge on complex multi-step tasks.
Gemini 3 Flash handles text, images, audio, and video natively. GPT-5 mini supports text and images only.
gemini.google.com offers Gemini Flash models free with no hard cap. GPT-5 mini free tier hits daily limits.
1M tokens (Gemini 3 Flash) vs 400K (GPT-5 mini). 2.5× larger context for the same price tier.
FAQ
Is Gemini 3 Flash smarter than GPT-5 mini?
No — GPT-5 mini scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (39 vs 35) because its reasoning model architecture handles complex multi-step tasks more reliably. Gemini 3 Flash is faster and more capable at multimodal tasks, but GPT-5 mini wins on raw reasoning depth.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3 Flash or GPT-5 mini?
GPT-5 mini is cheaper: $0.25/$2.00 per 1M tokens ($0.69/1M blended) vs Gemini 3 Flash at $0.50/$3.00 ($1.13/1M blended). GPT-5 mini is about 40% cheaper per token.
Can I use Gemini 3 Flash for free?
Yes — gemini.google.com includes Gemini Flash models in the free tier with no hard usage cap for typical queries. The Google AI Studio API also has a free tier (rate-limited).
Which should I use for video analysis?
Gemini 3 Flash. It natively processes video, audio, image, and text in a single API call. GPT-5 mini does not support video input.