GPT-5 Mini is $1.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
New🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash vs GPT-5 Mini
Pick GPT-5 Mini for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.5 Flash 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 GPT-5 Mini for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.5 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $4.75 (79.2% lower).
Cost-first pickGPT-5 Mini
Context-first pickGemini 3.5 Flash
Sample savings$4.7579.2%
10x traffic gap$47.5
Gemini 3.5 Flash has more context, but GPT-5 Mini saves $4.75 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $47.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
GPT-5 Mini stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Gemini 3.5 Flash | GPT-5 Mini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | GPT-5 Mini | $12 | $2.25 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | GPT-5 Mini | $10.5 | $2.25 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | GPT-5 Mini | $46.5 | $10.25 |
GPT-5 Mini is $7 cheaper per 1M output tokens (77.8% lower; 4.5x difference).
Gemini 3.5 Flash has 648.58K more context (2.62x larger).
GPT-5 Mini is $4.75 cheaper on the standard workload (79.2% 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
GPT-5 Mini has the lower input price; GPT-5 Mini has the lower output price; Gemini 3.5 Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, GPT-5 Mini is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash and $1.25 for GPT-5 Mini.
Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash when you care most about larger context window.
Choose GPT-5 Mini when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $4.75 (79.2% lower).
- GPT-5 Mini is $4.75 cheaper on the standard workload (79.2% lower).
- GPT-5 Mini is $1.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).
- GPT-5 Mini is $7 cheaper per 1M output tokens (77.8% lower; 4.5x difference).
- Gemini 3.5 Flash has 648.58K more context (2.62x larger).
| Feature | New🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash (Google) | GPT-5 Mini (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $1.5 | $0.25 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $9 | $2 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $6 | $1.25 |
| Context Window | 1.05M | 400K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #11 | #33 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | GPT-5 Mini | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Mini is estimated at $1.25 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $4.75 (79.2% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | GPT-5 Mini | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | GPT-5 Mini | 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
- 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.
- 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.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
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Open OpenAI modelsGemini 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-5 Mini is a compact version of GPT-5, designed to handle lighter-weight reasoning tasks. It provides the same instruction-following and safety-tuning benefits as GPT-5, but with reduced latency and cost....