Both models report the same input price at $0.25 per 1M tokens.
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview vs Claude 3 Haiku
Pick Claude 3 Haiku for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Claude 3 Haiku for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude 3 Haiku is estimated at $0.88 vs $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview, saving $0.12 (12.5% lower).
Cost-first pickClaude 3 Haiku
Context-first pickGemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview
Sample savings$0.1212.5%
10x traffic gap$1.25
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has more context, but Claude 3 Haiku saves $0.12 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Claude 3 Haiku stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview | Claude 3 Haiku |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Claude 3 Haiku | $2 | $1.88 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Claude 3 Haiku | $1.75 | $1.5 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Claude 3 Haiku | $7.75 | $6.5 |
Claude 3 Haiku is $0.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has 848.58K more context (5.24x larger).
Claude 3 Haiku is $0.12 cheaper on the standard workload (12.5% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
both models tie on input price; Claude 3 Haiku has the lower output price; Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Claude 3 Haiku is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview and $0.88 for Claude 3 Haiku.
Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Claude 3 Haiku when you care most about lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude 3 Haiku is estimated at $0.88 vs $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview, saving $0.12 (12.5% lower).
- Claude 3 Haiku is $0.12 cheaper on the standard workload (12.5% lower).
- Both models report the same input price at $0.25 per 1M tokens.
- Claude 3 Haiku is $0.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (16.7% lower; 1.2x difference).
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has 848.58K more context (5.24x larger).
| Feature | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview (Google) | Claude 3 Haiku (Anthropic) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.25 | $0.25 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $1.5 | $1.25 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $1 | $0.88 |
| Context Window | 1.05M | 200K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #26 | #150 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Claude 3 Haiku | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Claude 3 Haiku is estimated at $0.88 vs $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview, saving $0.12 (12.5% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Tie | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Claude 3 Haiku | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #1
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #2
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
Cheaper alternatives
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Open Anthropic modelsGemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview is Google's high-efficiency model optimized for high-volume use cases. It outperforms Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite on overall quality and approaches Gemini 2.5 Flash performance across...
Claude 3 Haiku is Anthropic's fastest and most compact model for near-instant responsiveness. Quick and accurate targeted performance. See the launch announcement and benchmark results [here](https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-3-haiku) #multimodal