Model comparison
Gemini 3 Flash vs Gemini 2.5 Flash
- Input
- $0.50 / 1M tokens
- Output
- $3.00 / 1M tokens
- Context
- 1M
- Released
- 2025-12-17
- Input
- $0.30 / 1M tokens (text / image / video); $1.00 / 1M tokens (audio)
- Output
- $2.50 / 1M tokens (includes thinking tokens)
- Context
- 1M
- Released
- 2025-04-17
Gemini 3 Flash scores higher on 2 of the 2 benchmarks both models report; Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper on input tokens ($0.3 vs $0.5 per 1M, 1.7×).
Specs and pricing side by side
| Spec | Gemini 3 Flash | Gemini 2.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Googlesame | |
| Released | 2025-12-17 | 2025-04-17 |
| Context window | 1M | 1Msame |
| Max output | 64K | 64Ksame |
| Input price | $0.50 / 1M tokens | $0.30 / 1M tokens (text / image / video); $1.00 / 1M tokens (audio) |
| Output price | $3.00 / 1M tokens | $2.50 / 1M tokens (includes thinking tokens) |
| Parameters | Not disclosed | not published |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietarysame |
| Weights | API only | API onlysame |
| Modalities | Text, Vision, Audio, Video, PDF | Text, Vision, Audio, Video, PDFsame |
| Knowledge cutoff | January 2025 | January 2025same |
Benchmarks both models report
| Benchmark | Gemini 3 Flash | Gemini 2.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 78% | 60.3% |
| Humanity's Last Exam | 33.7% | 11% |
Scores are as published by each maker or its cited source; harness, reasoning effort and date can differ between rows, so treat small gaps as ties. Sources are listed on each model page.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Gemini 3 Flash if…
- You care about SWE-bench Verified, Humanity's Last Exam (it scores higher on 2 shared benchmarks).
- Your use case is: high-volume production features where Gemini 3 Pro would be too slow or expensive.
Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash if…
- Cost matters: input tokens cost 1.7× less ($0.3 vs $0.5 per 1M).
- Your use case is: high-volume chat, summarization, and extraction where cost and latency matter.
FAQ
Which is better, Gemini 3 Flash or Gemini 2.5 Flash?
Gemini 3 Flash scores higher on 2 of the 2 benchmarks both models report; Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper on input tokens ($0.3 vs $0.5 per 1M, 1.7×). The better pick depends on whether you value benchmark scores, price per token, context length or openness for your workload.
How much cheaper is Gemini 2.5 Flash?
Gemini 3 Flash: $0.50 / 1M tokens input, $3.00 / 1M tokens output. Gemini 2.5 Flash: $0.30 / 1M tokens (text / image / video); $1.00 / 1M tokens (audio) input, $2.50 / 1M tokens (includes thinking tokens) output (list API prices as published by each maker).
What are the context windows of Gemini 3 Flash and Gemini 2.5 Flash?
Gemini 3 Flash offers 1M with up to 64K output; Gemini 2.5 Flash offers 1M with up to 64K output.
Is Gemini 3 Flash newer than Gemini 2.5 Flash?
Gemini 3 Flash was released 2025-12-17; Gemini 2.5 Flash was released 2025-04-17.