API cost decision in 10 seconds
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools vs 🔥Claude Opus 4.6
Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when budget and context both matter.
Pricing data updated:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools is estimated at $8 vs $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.6, saving $9.5 (54.3% lower).
Cost-first pickGemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Context-first pickGemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Sample savings$9.554.3%
10x traffic gap$95
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $95. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | Claude Opus 4.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | $16 | $37.5 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | $14 | $30 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | $62 | $130 |
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
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has the lower input price, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has the lower output price, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools offers the larger context window.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools and $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.6.
Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
Choose Claude Opus 4.6 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
| Feature | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools (Google) | 🔥Claude Opus 4.6 (Anthropic) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $2 | $5 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $12 | $25 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $8 | $17.5 |
| Context Window | 1.05M | 1M |
| Release Date | 2026-02-25 | 2026-02-04 |
| Popularity | #18 |
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools is a variant of Gemini 3.1 Pro that improves tool selection behavior by preventing overuse of a general bash tool when more efficient third-party...
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Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools is estimated at $8 vs $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.6, saving $9.5 (54.3% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files. |