Gemini 3.8 Flash vs GPT-6 Astra
A side-by-side of live API prices, providers, speed, usage and benchmarks. No verdict: the right choice depends on your workload.
Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.75 per 1M input and $3.75 per 1M output tokens at the standard tier, via Google AI Studio; GPT-6 Astra costs $10.00 and $50.00, via OpenAI. At a 3:1 input:output mix, Gemini 3.8 Flash is 93% cheaper than GPT-6 Astra.
Why these two are compared
Google describes Gemini 3.8 Flash as its most intelligent Flash model, with gains in software engineering, agentic tasks and multi-step reasoning. Set against OpenAI’s flagship GPT-6 Astra, it shows the price and speed gap between a fast tier and a flagship.
Side by side
| Measure | Gemini 3.8 Flash | GPT-6 Astra |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Google DeepMind | OpenAI |
| Released | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-04 |
| Standard price, input / output per 1M | $0.75 / $3.75 | $10.00 / $50.00 |
| Blended price (3:1) | $1.50 | $20.00 |
| Cheapest standard provider | Google AI Studio | OpenAI |
| Cache read per 1M | $0.075 | $1.00 |
| Providers at the standard tier | 2 | 3 |
| Context window (tokens) | 1,048,576 | 1,050,000 |
| Max output (tokens) | 65,536 | 128,000 |
| Input modalities | text, image, video, file, audio | file, image, text |
| Long-prompt pricing | No threshold listed | Prompts over 272,000 tokens: $20.00 input / $75.00 output per 1M tokens |
| Fastest endpoint | 93 tok/sGoogle AI Studio (Priority tier) | 114 tok/sOpenAI (Ultrafast tier) |
| Lowest latency | 2.16 sGoogle (Global endpoint) | 1.86 sOpenAI (Ultrafast tier) |
| OpenRouter tokens (2026-10-16) | 261.28B | 61.76B |
| AA intelligence | 40.9 | 52.7 |
| AA coding | 76.3 | 76.9 |
| AA agentic | 40.2 | 51.0 |
“Not reported” means the source publishes no value. AA scores are the Artificial Analysis indexes reported through OpenRouter (CC BY 4.0), not SF·SIX measurements.
Cost for three example workloads
| Workload | Gemini 3.8 Flash / month | GPT-6 Astra / month |
|---|---|---|
| Support chatbot50,000 requests × 1,500 in / 400 out tokens | $131.25 | $1,750.00 |
| RAG / research assistant20,000 requests × 8,000 in / 700 out tokens | $172.50 | $2,300.00 |
| Batch summarisation10,000 requests × 10,000 in / 500 out tokens | $93.75 | $1,250.00 |
Standard headline prices; caching and long-context surcharges not included. Price your own workload.
Gemini 3.8 Flash providers
| Provider and terms | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Throughput | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Studio | $0.75 | $3.75 | 89 tok/s | 2.52 s |
| GoogleGlobal endpoint | $0.75 | $3.75 | 76 tok/s | 2.16 s |
| GoogleUS region | $0.825 | $4.13 | 80 tok/s | 7.03 s |
| Google AI StudioPriority tier | $1.35 | $6.75 | 93 tok/s | 2.44 s |
| GooglePriority tier · Global endpoint | $1.35 | $6.75 | 68 tok/s | 2.47 s |
| Google AI StudioFlex tier | $0.375 | $1.88 | 92 tok/s | 2.52 s |
GPT-6 Astra providers
| Provider and terms | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Throughput | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azure | $10.00 | $50.00 | 33 tok/s | 6.25 s |
| OpenAI | $10.00 | $50.00 | 39 tok/s | 3.30 s |
| Amazon Bedrockus-west-2 region | $11.00 | $55.00 | Not reported | Not reported |
| AzureUS region | $11.00 | $55.00 | 32 tok/s | 3.05 s |
| OpenAIFast tier | $20.00 | $100.00 | 29 tok/s | 3.33 s |
| OpenAIUltrafast tier | $60.00 | $300.00 | 114 tok/s | 1.86 s |
| OpenAIFlex tier | $5.00 | $25.00 | 61 tok/s | 2.66 s |
Related comparisons
Sources and method
Prices are USD per 1M tokens at the standard service tier in the default region: the cheapest qualifying provider per model, with flex, batch, priority and fast endpoints and unusually low outliers never used as the headline. “Blended” weights input and output 3:1. Prices: OpenRouter, observed at the times on each model page. Speed: OpenRouter, previous 30 minutes. Usage: OpenRouter rankings, latest full UTC day (CC BY 4.0).