Gemini 3.5 Flash is often at less than half the cost of comparable models.

Judged as of 2026-05-20. Check published per-token API prices for Gemini 3.5 Flash against comparable models from other providers at launch (models of a similar tier or similar benchmark performance, which is the comparison the claim implies). True: in many of the relevant comparisons (for example several comparable models, or on input and output pricing), Gemini 3.5 Flash's price is less than 50% of the comparable model's price. Mostly true: it is clearly cheaper and below half in some comparisons, but 'often' is a slight stretch, for example only a few comparisons fall just under half. Mixed: it is cheaper than comparable models, but under half in only a minority of comparisons, or the result depends heavily on which models are picked. Mostly false: it is cheaper in some comparisons but almost never below half. False: it is usually priced the same as or higher than comparable models, or the model did not exist as described.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Gemini 3.5 Flash (Minimal) vs GPT-5 (High): Model Comparison | Artificial Analysis Artificial Analysis

   “Gemini 3.5 Flash (Minimal) is cheaper. At a 7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio, Gemini 3.5 Flash (Minimal) costs $1.31 per 1M tokens (based on Google's API), compared with GPT-5 (High) at $1.34 per 1M tokens (based on OpenAI's API).”

2. E2 Gemini 3.5 Flash (Minimal) vs GPT-5 (High): Model Comparison | Artificial Analysis Artificial Analysis

   “| Input Price per 1M Tokens | $1.50 | $1.25 | |”

3. E3 Gemini 3.5 Flash (Medium) vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview: Model Comparison | Artificial Analysis Artificial Analysis

   “Gemini 3.5 Flash (Medium) is cheaper. At a 7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio, Gemini 3.5 Flash (Medium) costs $1.31 per 1M tokens (based on Google's API), compared with Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview at $1.74 per 1M tokens (based on Google's API).”

4. E4 Gemini 3.5 Flash (High) vs Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Model Comparison | Artificial Analysis Artificial Analysis

   “Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is cheaper. At a 7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite costs $0.22 per 1M tokens (based on Google's API), compared with Gemini 3.5 Flash (High) at $1.31 per 1M tokens (based on Google's API).”

5. E5 Gemini 3.5 Flash: The new leader in intelligence versus speed Artificial Analysis · 19 May 2026

   “Gemini 3.5 Flash costs $1,552 to run the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 5.5x more than Gemini 3 Flash and 75% more than Gemini 3.1 Pro.”

6. E6 Gemini 3.5 Flash (High) vs GPT-5 mini (High): Model Comparison | Artificial Analysis Artificial Analysis · 1 January 2026

   “GPT-5 mini (High) is cheaper. At a 7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio, GPT-5 mini (High) costs $0.27 per 1M tokens (based on OpenAI's API), compared with Gemini 3.5 Flash (High) at $1.31 per 1M tokens (based on Google's API).”

7. E7 Claude Haiku 5.5 vs Gemini 3.5 Flash — Benchmarks Compared AI Release Tracker · 7 October 2026

   “Only Claude Haiku 5.5 has a verified first-party price for an available API: $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens.”

Artificial Analysis gives Gemini 3.5 Flash a blended price of $1.31 per 1M tokens. That is only slightly below GPT-5 (High) at $1.34 (E1), and its input price of $1.50 per 1M tokens is above GPT-5's $1.25 (E2). Gemini 3.5 Flash is cheaper than Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview by only about a quarter on blended price ($1.31 vs $1.74) (E3), and it cost 75% more than 3.1 Pro to run the Intelligence Index (E5). Artificial Analysis finds GPT-5 mini (High) about five times cheaper on blended price ($0.27 vs $1.31 per 1M tokens) (E6). In none of these comparisons is Gemini 3.5 Flash below half the price, though it is cheaper in some, which matches the "mostly false" criterion rather than "true" or "mixed".