Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Gemini 3.6 Flash pricing
Side-by-side LLM API pricing.Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper on input ($0.30 vs $1.50 /1M), and Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper on output ($2.50 vs $7.50 /1M). On a blended average, Gemini 2.5 Flash is lower — but which wins for you depends on your input/output mix, so check the example workloads below or run the calculator.
| Attribute | Gemini 2.5 Flash | Gemini 3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | ||
| Tier | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Status | GA | GA |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Input /1M | $0.30 | $1.50 |
| Output /1M | $2.50 | $7.50 |
| Cached input /1M | $0.03 | $0.15 |
| Batch input /1M | $0.15 | $0.75 |
| Batch output /1M | $1.25 | $3.75 |
| Blended (avg in+out) | $1.40 | $4.50 |
| 1M in + 1M out | $2.80 | $9.00 |
| 1M in (90% cached) + 100K out | $0.3070 | $1.04 |
List prices, USD, directional. Rates are provider list prices per 1M tokens and are meant for comparison, not billing. Batch rates shown as 50% off are derived where a provider offers batch but does not publish a separate figure. Preview, promo, intro, peak/off-peak, long-context, and third-party-host prices are labeled where they apply. Token counts vary by tokenizer, so per-token price is not always a like-for-like cost. Always confirm with the provider before relying on a number. Prices as of 2026-08-03.
Which should you pick?
For a balanced job (1M input + 1M output), Gemini 2.5 Flash costs $2.80 versus $9.00. If your prompts are large and reused, prompt caching changes the maths — the cache-heavy row above shows a 90%-cached input scenario. If your work can run asynchronously, both providers' batch rates cut the bill further where offered.
Full price matrices: Gemini 2.5 Flash pricing → · Gemini 3.6 Flash pricing → · Back to the LLM pricing hub →