Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 4 Argon is one of Google's newest models and Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite an earlier one, so this is also what moving up costs or saves. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is the cheaper of the 2: for the same tokens, 3 read for each 1 written, Gemini 4 Argon costs 7.1 times as much. Below are both price lists, what 8 everyday jobs cost a month on each, and how many tokens the same text takes on each, which can change the answer.
- For the same tokens
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is cheaper; Gemini 4 Argon costs 7.1 times as much
- Cheaper to read
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, $0.25 against $2
- Cheaper to write
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, $1.50 against $10
- Scores higher
- Gemini 4 Argon, 165 against 144
- Larger window
- Not listed for Gemini 4 Argon
Price per million tokens, side by side
In US dollars, as each maker prints them. The better figure in each row is green.
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteGoogle · earlier model | Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle | |
|---|---|---|
| InputTokens the model reads | $0.25 | $2 |
| Cached inputRead again from the cache | $0.025 | $0.10 |
| Cache writePutting text in the cache | Not listed | Not listed |
| OutputTokens it writes, thinking included | $1.50 | $10 |
| Blend 3:13 tokens read for each 1 written | $0.5625 | $4 |
| Batch inputAnswers collected later | Not listed | Not listed |
| Batch output | Not listed | Not listed |
| Context windowTokens it holds at once | 1.05M | Not listed |
| Capability scoreEpoch Capabilities Index; GPT-5 is 150 | 144 | 165 |
| Longest answerTokens it writes in 1 reply | 66K | Not listed |
Read before you choose
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Audio input is $0.50.
- Gemini 4 Argon: Until 30 November 2026. From 1 December 2026 it is $4 in, $20 out and $0.20 cached.
What 8 everyday jobs cost a month on each
Each job at its usual number of runs a day, for 30 days, at the standard price. The cheaper of the 2 is green; open any job in the calculator to change it.
| Job | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Gemini 4 Argon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| A chat question300 in, 500 out, 100 a day | $2.480.083 cents a run | $16.800.56 cents a run | 6.8 times |
| A hard question, with thinking300 in, 1,400 out, 100 a day | $6.520.22 cents a run | $43.801.5 cents a run | 6.7 times |
| A long report, summarised60,000 in, 2,000 out, 20 a day | $10.801.8 cents a run | $84.0014 cents a run | 7.8 times |
| A 40-turn agent task2,800,000 in, 40,000 out, 10 a day | $57.9019 cents a run | $364$1.21 a run | 6.3 times |
| A support bot's reply4,000 in, 300 out, 2,000 a day | $60.000.1 cents a run | $4320.72 cents a run | 7.2 times |
| Sort a message into a category250 in, 5 out, 50,000 a day | $1050.007 cents a run | $8250.055 cents a run | 7.9 times |
| Read an invoice into fields1,500 in, 250 out, 1,000 a day | $22.500.075 cents a run | $1650.55 cents a run | 7.3 times |
| Review a pull request25,000 in, 4,500 out, 50 a day | $19.501.3 cents a run | $1439.5 cents a run | 7.3 times |
Your own job on both
Start from a job, then set its size, how often it runs and whether the answers can wait. Both bills follow every change.
A short question and a few paragraphs back.
about 230 words
Instructions or documents the model has read before cost far less the second time.
about 380 words
A month of this job
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite$2.48
0.083 cents a run
- Gemini 4 Argon$16.80
0.56 cents a run
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite saves $14.32 a month; Gemini 4 Argon costs 6.8 times as much.
This job on every modelWhy the price per token is only the start
Every maker prints 2 main prices: one for the tokens a model reads (input) and one for the tokens it writes (output). On most current models writing costs 3 to 5 times as much as reading, so which model is cheaper can depend on the job. A job that reads a long document and writes a line pays mostly the input price; a chat that writes paragraphs pays mostly the output price. That is why each comparison prices 8 jobs and not one figure.
The same text is not the same number of tokens on every model. Each maker cuts text its own way, and Anthropic says its models from Claude 4.7 on produce about 30 percent more tokens for the same text than earlier ones. A model with the lower price per token can still send the larger bill, so each comparison counts one of our lessons the way both makers count it.
Discounts change the order too. Work that can wait costs half on a batch at the makers that offer one, and text read again from a cache costs a quarter of the input price or less on every current model here. The price table on each comparison shows who offers what.
Thinking is billed as output, and models differ in how much they think and how long they answer. A price list cannot show that. Before you switch, run the same 10 tasks on both models and compare the bills.
Questions
- Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is cheaper: $0.25 per million tokens read and $1.50 per million written, against $2 and $10 on Gemini 4 Argon. On a mix of 3 tokens read for each 1 written, Gemini 4 Argon costs 7.1 times as much.
- Which is better, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or Gemini 4 Argon?
- On the Epoch Capabilities Index, an independent score from Epoch AI that combines over 50 benchmarks, Gemini 4 Argon scores 165 and Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite 144, above the top of the range of doubt around Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite's score (GPT-5 is 150). One score is an average; test both on your own work before you switch.
- What does a support bot cost a month on Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and Gemini 4 Argon?
- At 2,000 replies a day, each reading 4,000 tokens (50 percent of them from cache) and writing 300, it costs $60.00 a month on Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and $432 on Gemini 4 Argon: Gemini 4 Argon costs 7.2 times as much for this job.
- What does an AI agent task cost on Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and Gemini 4 Argon?
- One 40-turn task that reads 2,800,000 tokens in all, 90 percent of them from cache, and writes 40,000, costs 19 cents on Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and $1.21 on Gemini 4 Argon. At 10 tasks a day that is $57.90 and $364 a month.
- Does the same text take the same number of tokens on Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and Gemini 4 Argon?
- Yes, both are counted the same way: our lesson "How AI writes", 1,700 words long, is about 2,200 tokens on each.
- Is it cheaper to move from Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite to Gemini 4 Argon?
- No, it costs more per token: Gemini 4 Argon charges $2 per million tokens read and $10 written, against $0.25 and $1.50 on Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite, 7.1 times as much for the same tokens. It pays off only if better answers save more than that, for example in fewer retries.
- Can I pay less on Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and Gemini 4 Argon for work that can wait?
- Not with a batch price: neither maker's price page lists one for these models. A cache still lowers the price of text the model reads again.
Sources