Google: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite is a reasoning model from Google released on Jul 9, 2026. It reads text, images, files, audio and video and writes text, with a 1.05M token context window and up to 66K tokens per reply.
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It costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens. Cached input bills at $0.03, 90% less than fresh input.
It supports tool calling, structured JSON output and prompt caching.
24 providers serve it, including Vercel AI Gateway, Vertex and Kilo Gateway. The lowest input price is $0.15 per million tokens at Kilo Gateway.
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index it scores 22.2, which places it at number 29 among the 43 models I track with independent scores.
- Modalities
- In / out price
- $0.30 / $2.50 per 1M
- Context
- 1.05M
- Max output
- 66K
- Released
- Jul 9, 2026
- Knowledge cutoff
- Mar 2026
- Tool calling
- Structured output
- Reasoning
- Prompt caching
- Open weights
- Free to use
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite pricing
USD, as listed on Oct 15, 2026. Most bills are input heavy, so the cached input rate matters as much as the headline price.
| Input | $0.30 / 1M tokens | |
|---|---|---|
| Output | $2.50 / 1M tokens | |
| Cached input (read) | $0.03 / 1M tokens | 90% off input |
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite providers
24 providers serve it, including Vercel AI Gateway, Vertex and Kilo Gateway. The lowest input price is $0.15 per million tokens at Kilo Gateway. Each host sets its own price and limits, so the cheapest one is not always the one with the longest context.
| Provider | Input /M | Output /M | Cache read /M | Context | Max output |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google First party | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| Vercel AI Gateway | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1M | 65K |
| Vertex | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| Kilo Gateway | $0.15 | $1.25 | $0.015 | 1.05M | 66K |
| 302.AI | $0.30 | $2.50 | – | 1.05M | 66K |
| Abacus | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| AIHubMix | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| CrossModel | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| DevPass (LLM Gateway) | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| Eden AI | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| Impossibl | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
| LLM Gateway | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.03 | 1.05M | 66K |
Showing 12 of 24 providers: the lab first, then the major clouds, then the cheapest resellers.
What Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs per month
Pick a workload close to yours or type your own volumes.
Independent benchmarks
Measured by third parties, not reported by Google. Each links to its source and shows the date I checked it.
A composite of 10 independent evaluations (agents 30%, coding 20%, scientific reasoning 20%, general 30%), run by Artificial Analysis on each model, version 4.3.2.
Artificial Analysis, checked Oct 10, 2026
Human preference: people compare two anonymous answers and pick the better one. Ratings from the Text Arena overall board, style control on.
Arena (formerly LMArena), checked Oct 10, 2026
Abstract reasoning on visual puzzles the model has not seen, semi private set. Hard to memorise, so it tracks reasoning more than knowledge.
ARC Prize, checked Oct 10, 2026
Median output tokens per second measured by Artificial Analysis on the provider API, for the same model setting as its index score.
Artificial Analysis, checked Oct 10, 2026
Benchmarks Google reports (7)
- swe-bench-pro (SWE-Bench Pro (Public))54.2%
- terminal-bench-2.1 (Terminal-bench 2.1, Terminus-2 harness)54%
- mle-bench (MLE-Bench, machine learning engineering)39.2%
- gdpval-aa-v2 (GDPVal-AA v2, knowledge work)1140
- osworld-verified (OSWorld-Verified, agentic computer use)74%
- charxiv-reasoning (CharXiv Reasoning, no tools)74.5%
- mrcr-v2 (GDM-MRCR v2 (8-needle), 128k (average))72.2%
Labs pick their own settings and harnesses, so compare these only within one lab.
Supported request parameters
What you can set when you call Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite through an OpenAI compatible API.
- Tools
tools - Structured outputs
structured_outputs - Reasoning
reasoning - Temperature
temperature
Alternatives to Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite
Models that take the same inputs and call tools, closest in price, cheaper ones first.
- 1.05M context
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Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite questions
How much does the Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite API cost?
$0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens, with cached input at $0.03. The estimator on this page turns that into a monthly bill for your own workload.
What is the context window of Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite?
1,048,576 tokens of input, and it can write up to 65,536 tokens in one reply. As a rough guide, a million tokens is around 750,000 English words.
Which providers serve Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite?
24 providers serve it, including Vercel AI Gateway, Vertex and Kilo Gateway. The lowest input price is $0.15 per million tokens at Kilo Gateway. Prices differ by host, so the Providers table on this page lists each one with its input and output price.
Does Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite support tool calling?
Yes. It accepts tool definitions and can return JSON that matches a schema, which is what an agent needs to call your APIs.
Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite open source?
No. Google serves it through an API only, so you cannot download the weights or host it yourself.
When was Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite released?
Jul 9, 2026, with training data up to Mar 2026.
How good is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite compared with other models?
It scores 22.2 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index and 1455 on the Arena text leaderboard. Benchmarks are a shortlist, not a verdict: test the top two or three candidates on your own tasks before you commit.
Catalog data from models.dev (MIT licensed), refreshed daily, last on Oct 15, 2026. Independent scores from my hand checked rankings, sources linked above. The summary is written from these facts.
Building on Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite?
I test your real tasks on it and the two closest alternatives, then ship the agent on whichever wins on cost and accuracy.
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