# Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon

Gemini 3.8 Flash is the cheaper of the 2: for the same tokens, 3 read for each 1 written, Gemini 4 Argon costs 2.7 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.

- Page, with a calculator for your own job: https://tecyfy.com/prices/compare/gemini-3-8-flash-vs-gemini-4-argon
- Makers: Gemini 3.8 Flash from Google, Gemini 4 Argon from Google

## Price per million tokens, in US dollars

| | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon |
| --- | --: | --: |
| Input | $0.75 | $2 |
| Cached input | $0.075 | $0.10 |
| Cache write | not listed | not listed |
| Output | $3.75 | $10 |
| Blend, 3 read for each 1 written | $1.50 | $4 |
| Batch input | not listed | not listed |
| Batch output | not listed | not listed |
| Context window, tokens | 1.05M | not listed |
| Capability score (Epoch Capabilities Index; GPT-5 is 150) | 157 | 165 |
| Longest answer, tokens | 66K | not listed |

Gemini 3.8 Flash: Until 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027 it is $1.50 in, $7.50 out and $0.15 cached.

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 runs a day, for 30 days, at the standard price.

| Job | Tokens in, out, runs a day | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon |
| --- | --- | --: | --: |
| A chat question | 300, 500, 100 | $6.30 | $16.80 |
| A hard question, with thinking | 300, 1,400, 100 | $16.43 | $43.80 |
| A long report, summarised | 60,000, 2,000, 20 | $31.50 | $84.00 |
| A 40-turn agent task | 2,800,000, 40,000, 10 | $165 | $364 |
| A support bot's reply | 4,000, 300, 2,000 | $166 | $432 |
| Sort a message into a category | 250, 5, 50,000 | $309 | $825 |
| Read an invoice into fields | 1,500, 250, 1,000 | $61.88 | $165 |
| Review a pull request | 25,000, 4,500, 50 | $53.44 | $143 |

## Questions

### Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?

Gemini 3.8 Flash is cheaper: $0.75 per million tokens read and $3.75 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 2.7 times as much.

### Which is better, Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 3.8 Flash 157, above the top of the range of doubt around Gemini 3.8 Flash'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 3.8 Flash 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 $166 a month on Gemini 3.8 Flash and $432 on Gemini 4 Argon: Gemini 4 Argon costs 2.6 times as much for this job.

### What does an AI agent task cost on Gemini 3.8 Flash 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 55 cents on Gemini 3.8 Flash and $1.21 on Gemini 4 Argon. At 10 tasks a day that is $165 and $364 a month.

### Does the same text take the same number of tokens on Gemini 3.8 Flash 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.

### Can I pay less on Gemini 3.8 Flash 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

- [Google: API prices](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing)
- [Epoch Capabilities Index, by Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0)](https://epoch.ai/benchmarks/eci)

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- [Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon](https://tecyfy.com/prices/compare/gemini-3-6-flash-vs-gemini-4-argon.md)
- [Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 3.8 Flash](https://tecyfy.com/prices/compare/gemini-3-6-flash-vs-gemini-3-8-flash.md)
- [Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs Gemini 4 Argon](https://tecyfy.com/prices/compare/gemini-3-1-pro-preview-vs-gemini-4-argon.md)
- [Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash](https://tecyfy.com/prices/compare/gemini-3-1-pro-preview-vs-gemini-3-8-flash.md)
- [Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs Gemini 4 Argon](https://tecyfy.com/prices/compare/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-vs-gemini-4-argon.md)
- [Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs Gemini 3.8 Flash](https://tecyfy.com/prices/compare/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-vs-gemini-3-8-flash.md)