API cost decision in 10 seconds

New🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash vs GPT-4.1

The standard workload cost is tied; choose by context window, provider fit, latency, or model quality.

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

The standard workload cost is tied; choose by context window, provider fit, latency, or model quality.

Both models are estimated at $6 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Cost-first pickTie

Context-first pickGemini 3.5 Flash

Sample savings$00%

10x traffic gap$0

Context-window winner: Gemini 3.5 Flash. Cost does not separate this pair on the standard workload, so the next decision point is context window and model behavior.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Gemini 3.5 Flash, balanced workload favors GPT-4.1, and output-heavy chatbot favors GPT-4.1.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemini 3.5 Flash	GPT-4.1
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemini 3.5 Flash	$12	$14
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	GPT-4.1	$10.5	$10
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	GPT-4.1	$46.5	$42

Cheaper input Gemini 3.5 Flash $1.5 vs $2 / 1M

Gemini 3.5 Flash is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).

Cheaper output GPT-4.1 $9 vs $8 / 1M

GPT-4.1 is $1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (11.1% lower; 1.12x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3.5 Flash 1.05M vs 1.05M

Gemini 3.5 Flash has 1K more context (1x larger).

Sample workload Tie $6 vs $6

Both models have the same estimated cost for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload: $6.

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemini 3.5 Flash Calculating… Estimated API cost

GPT-4.1 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 3.5 Flash has the lower input price; GPT-4.1 has the lower output price; Gemini 3.5 Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, the standard workload cost is tied.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash and $6 for GPT-4.1.

Best Fit

Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose GPT-4.1 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

Both models are estimated at $6 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Both models have the same estimated cost for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload: $6.
Gemini 3.5 Flash is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).
GPT-4.1 is $1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (11.1% lower; 1.12x difference).
Gemini 3.5 Flash has 1K more context (1x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	New🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash (Google)	GPT-4.1 (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.5	$2
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$9	$8
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$6	$6
Context Window	1.05M	1.05M
Release Date	2026-05-19	2025-04-14
Popularity	#11	#69

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Tie	Both models are estimated at $6 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
High-volume input processing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	GPT-4.1	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 3.5 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 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3.5 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.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 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

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

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Provider catalogs

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

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Google catalog

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

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OpenAI catalog

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

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Gemini 3.5 Flash

Gemini 3.5 Flash is Google's high-efficiency multimodal model, bringing near-Pro level coding and reasoning at Flash-tier cost and speed. It is highly optimized for coding proficiency and parallel agentic execution...

GPT-4.1

GPT-4.1 is a flagship large language model optimized for advanced instruction following, real-world software engineering, and long-context reasoning. It supports a 1 million token context window and outperforms GPT-4o and...