API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs 🔥Claude Opus 4.6

Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when budget and context both matter.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-20T20:08:09Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 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

Context-first pickGemini 3.1 Pro Preview

Sample savings$9.554.3%

10x traffic gap$95

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 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

Same prices, different token mixes.

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	Claude Opus 4.6
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	$16	$37.5
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	$14	$30
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	$62	$130

Cheaper input Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview $2 vs $5 / 1M

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is $3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).

Cheaper output Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview $12 vs $25 / 1M

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is $13 cheaper per 1M output tokens (52% lower; 2.08x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 1.05M vs 1M

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview has 48.58K more context (1.05x larger).

Sample workload Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview $8 vs $17.5

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is $9.5 cheaper on the standard workload (54.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Calculating… Estimated API cost

Claude Opus 4.6 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 3.1 Pro Preview has the lower input price; Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview has the lower output price; Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $8 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview and $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.6.

Best Fit

Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 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.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is estimated at $8 vs $17.5 for Claude Opus 4.6, saving $9.5 (54.3% lower).
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is $9.5 cheaper on the standard workload (54.3% lower).
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is $3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is $13 cheaper per 1M output tokens (52% lower; 2.08x difference).
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview has 48.58K more context (1.05x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	🔥Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (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	2026-02-19	2026-02-04
Popularity	#13	#16

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 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	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 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.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
GPT-5.5 offers 1.05M context with $20 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

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

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Google catalog

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

Open Google models

Anthropic catalog

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

Open Anthropic models

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is Google’s frontier reasoning model, delivering enhanced software engineering performance, improved agentic reliability, and more efficient token usage across complex workflows. Building on the multimodal foundation...

Claude Opus 4.6

Opus 4.6 is Anthropic’s strongest model for coding and long-running professional tasks. It is built for agents that operate across entire workflows rather than single prompts, making it especially effective...