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Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Gemini 3 Flash

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

Gemini 2.5 Flash specs · Gemini 3 Flash specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceGemini 2.5 Flash

    Gemini 2.5 Flash publishes pricing ($0.30 / 1M output tokens) while Gemini 3 Flash does not.

  • Context windowTie

    Both ship a 1.0M-token context window.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesGemini 3 Flash

    Gemini 3 Flash supports 4 modalities (text, vision, audio, video) vs 3 for Gemini 2.5 Flash.

  • OpennessTie

    Both are closed-weight, API-only.

It's a genuine coin-flip between Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash: 1 category wins each, with the rest tied. Gemini 2.5 Flash publishes pricing ($0.30 / 1M output tokens) while Gemini 3 Flash does not. Both ship a 1.0M-token context window.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Gemini 2.5 Flash handles text, vision, audio while Gemini 3 Flash handles text, vision, audio, video, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Both are closed-weight, API-only.

Gemini 3 Flash is the newer of the two, released 8 months after Gemini 2.5 Flash, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Gemini 2.5 Flash is usually picked for rag and long context workloads, while Gemini 3 Flash sees more deployments in rag and summarization. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 3 Flash
ProviderGoogleGoogle
ReleasedApr 2025Dec 2025
Modalitiestext, vision, audiotext, vision, audio, video
Context window1.0M tokens1.0M tokens
Max output,65.5K tokens
Input · 1M$0.075 / 1M tokensPricing not published
Output · 1M$0.30 / 1M tokensPricing not published
Knowledge cutoff2025-012025-01
Open weightsNoNo
API availableYesYes

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$0.675 vs ,
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$6.75 vs ,
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$13.05 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).

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash$0.022
  • Gemini 3 FlashPricing unavailable

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Benchmark scores not yet available. We only publish numbers we can source from official model cards or independent leaderboards, see methodology.
Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash if

Gemini 2.5 Flash fits when…

  • Cheap and fast
  • Long context
  • Solid vision
Pick Gemini 3 Flash if

Gemini 3 Flash fits when…

  • 1M-token context at mid-tier price
  • Very fast, good for interactive UX
  • Strong vision support
  • Multimodal needs covering video.
Don't want either?

Consider Gemini 3 Pro

Google's late-2025 flagship, set new benchmarks on long-context, vision, and reasoning at competitive pricing.

See Gemini 3 Pro specsGemini 2.5 Flash vs Gemini 3 ProGemini 3 Flash vs Gemini 3 Pro

Frequently asked

  • Is Gemini 2.5 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash 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?
    Both Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash ship a 1.0M-token context window.
  • Is Gemini 2.5 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash better for coding?
    Both Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash 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?
    Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.
  • When were Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash released?
    Gemini 2.5 Flash was released by Google on 2025-04-09. Gemini 3 Flash was released by Google on 2025-12-09.
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