Command R (08-2024) vs Gemini 3 Pro
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
- PriceCommand R (08-2024)
Command R (08-2024) publishes pricing ($0.60 / 1M output tokens) while Gemini 3 Pro does not.
- Context windowGemini 3 Pro
Gemini 3 Pro accepts 1.0M tokens vs 128K, 8.2× the room for long documents and codebases.
- BenchmarksTie
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.
- ModalitiesGemini 3 Pro
Gemini 3 Pro supports 4 modalities (text, vision, audio, video) vs 1 for Command R (08-2024).
- OpennessCommand R (08-2024)
Command R (08-2024) ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); Gemini 3 Pro is API-only.
It's a genuine coin-flip between Command R (08-2024) and Gemini 3 Pro: 2 category wins each, with the rest tied. Command R (08-2024) publishes pricing ($0.60 / 1M output tokens) while Gemini 3 Pro does not. Gemini 3 Pro accepts 1.0M tokens vs 128K, 8.2× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Command R (08-2024) handles text while Gemini 3 Pro handles text, vision, audio, video, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Command R (08-2024) ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0); Gemini 3 Pro is API-only.
Gemini 3 Pro is the newer of the two, released 16 months after Command R (08-2024), which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Command R (08-2024) is usually picked for rag and multilingual workloads, while Gemini 3 Pro sees more deployments in long context and rag. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Command R (08-2024) | Gemini 3 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere | |
| Released | Aug 2024 | Dec 2025 |
| Modalities | text | text, vision, audio, video |
| Context window | 128K tokens | 1.0M tokens |
| Max output | , | 65.5K tokens |
| Input · 1M | $0.15 / 1M tokens | Pricing not published |
| Output · 1M | $0.60 / 1M tokens | Pricing not published |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | 2025-01 |
| Open weights | Yes (CC-BY-NC 4.0) | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
Pricing at scale
What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$1.35 vs ,
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$13.50 vs ,
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$26.10 vs ,
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- Command R (08-2024)$0.045
- Gemini 3 ProPricing unavailable
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- MMLU,91.8
- HumanEval,95.4
- GPQA,91.9
Command R (08-2024) fits when…
- Improved tool-use
- Strong multilingual
- Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0).
Gemini 3 Pro fits when…
- Massive 1M-token context window
- State-of-the-art vision and document understanding
- Strong reasoning at competitive price
- Long-context tasks, handles 1.0M tokens vs 128K for Command R (08-2024).
- Multimodal needs covering vision, audio, video.
Consider Command R+ (08-2024)
Cohere's flagship optimized for RAG and tool use in enterprise settings.
Frequently asked
Is Command R (08-2024) or Gemini 3 Pro cheaper?
Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.Which has the larger context window?
Gemini 3 Pro accepts 1.0M tokens vs 128K for Command R (08-2024).Is Command R (08-2024) or Gemini 3 Pro better for coding?
Both Command R (08-2024) and Gemini 3 Pro are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.Are either of these models open source?
Command R (08-2024) ships open weights (CC-BY-NC 4.0). Gemini 3 Pro is API-only.When were Command R (08-2024) and Gemini 3 Pro released?
Command R (08-2024) was released by Cohere on 2024-08-30. Gemini 3 Pro was released by Google on 2025-12-09.
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