API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥Gemini 2.5 Flash vs R1 0528

Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 2.5 Flash is estimated at $1.55 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $0.02 (1.6% lower).

Cost-first pickGemini 2.5 Flash

Context-first pickGemini 2.5 Flash

Sample savings$0.021.6%

10x traffic gap$0.25

Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Gemini 2.5 Flash, balanced workload favors R1 0528, and output-heavy chatbot favors R1 0528.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemini 2.5 Flash	R1 0528
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemini 2.5 Flash	$2.75	$3.58
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	R1 0528	$2.8	$2.65
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	R1 0528	$12.8	$11.25

Cheaper input Gemini 2.5 Flash $0.3 vs $0.5 / 1M

Gemini 2.5 Flash is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).

Cheaper output R1 0528 $2.5 vs $2.15 / 1M

R1 0528 is $0.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (14% lower; 1.16x difference).

Larger context Gemini 2.5 Flash 1.05M vs 163.84K

Gemini 2.5 Flash has 884.74K more context (6.4x larger).

Sample workload Gemini 2.5 Flash $1.55 vs $1.57

Gemini 2.5 Flash is $0.02 cheaper on the standard workload (1.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemini 2.5 Flash Calculating… Estimated API cost

R1 0528 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash has the lower input price; R1 0528 has the lower output price; Gemini 2.5 Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.55 for Gemini 2.5 Flash and $1.57 for R1 0528.

Best Fit

Choose Gemini 2.5 Flash when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose R1 0528 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 2.5 Flash is estimated at $1.55 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $0.02 (1.6% lower).
Gemini 2.5 Flash is $0.02 cheaper on the standard workload (1.6% lower).
Gemini 2.5 Flash is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).
R1 0528 is $0.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (14% lower; 1.16x difference).
Gemini 2.5 Flash has 884.74K more context (6.4x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	🔥Gemini 2.5 Flash (Google)	R1 0528 (DeepSeek)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.3	$0.5
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.5	$2.15
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.55	$1.57
Context Window	1.05M	163.84K
Release Date	2025-06-17	2025-05-28
Popularity	#15	#106

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Gemini 2.5 Flash	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 2.5 Flash is estimated at $1.55 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $0.02 (1.6% lower).
High-volume input processing	Gemini 2.5 Flash	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	R1 0528	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 2.5 Flash	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 2.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 2.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 2.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 2.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Google catalog

Review all tracked Google models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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DeepSeek catalog

Check other DeepSeek models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open DeepSeek models

Gemini 2.5 Flash

Gemini 2.5 Flash is Google's state-of-the-art workhorse model, specifically designed for advanced reasoning, coding, mathematics, and scientific tasks. It includes built-in "thinking" capabilities, enabling it to provide responses with greater...

R1 0528

May 28th update to the [original DeepSeek R1](/deepseek/deepseek-r1) Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 671B parameters in size, with 37B active...