[good]

Google

Gemini 3 Flash

Fastest
7.3
out of 10

Google's speed-optimized model that closes surprising ground on intelligence. Released December 2025, Gemini 3 Flash scores 35 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index — higher than several models that cost five to ten times more per token — while running at 170 tokens per second. At $0.50/$3.00 per 1M, it's genuinely cheap for high-volume API use. The 1M token context window and native video/audio/image input make it the practical go-to for multimodal pipelines that need throughput without paying Gemini 3 Pro prices.

Context window

1.0M tokens

API (blended)

$1.13/1M

Consumer access

Free

Multimodal

Yes

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Strengths

  • +170.2 t/s — the fastest model in this comparison by a wide margin
  • +AA Intelligence Index 35 at $1.13/1M blended — exceptional price-to-performance
  • +1M token context window, same as Gemini 3 Pro
  • +Native multimodal: text, image, audio, video in a single API
  • +Free via gemini.google.com with no hard usage cap

Weaknesses

  • -AA Index 35 is notably below Gemini 3 Pro (48.44) — real capability gap for complex reasoning tasks
  • -Prompts over 200K tokens billed at 2× — 1M context can get expensive at full capacity
  • -Writing quality and nuance below Gemini 3 Pro and Claude

Best for

high-volume API workloadsmultimodal pipelines (video/audio/image)real-time streaming applicationsbudget users wanting a Gemini productRAG pipelines needing fast retrieval+generation

Not ideal for

complex reasoning tasks (use Gemini 3 Pro instead)highest-quality writing (Claude is better)very long context at scale (pricing penalty)

Pricing details

Subscription plans

Free (gemini.google.com)Gemini Flash access via web and mobile; no hard usage cap for normal use(May be slower during peak; some advanced features locked to premium)
Free
Google One AI PremiumGemini Advanced (higher capability tier), 2TB Google Drive, Gemini in Gmail/Docs/Sheets
$20/mo

API pricing

Google AI Studiofree tierFree tier: rate-limited (60 req/min). Paid: $0.50/$3.00 per 1M tokens. Prompts >200K tokens billed at 2×. All four modalities (text/image/audio/video) included.
$0.5/$3
Google Vertex AIEnterprise tier. Same base pricing, SLA available.
$0.5/$3
OpenRouterSmall markup over direct Google pricing.
$0.52/$3.1

Prices verified February 2026. LLM pricing changes frequently — verify at the provider's site before budgeting.

Last updated: February 2026

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