API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥Gemini 3 Flash Preview vs NewGrok Build 0.1

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

Page updated: 2026-05-26T12:03:47Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T13:08:02Z 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 $2 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Cost-first pickTie

Context-first pickGemini 3 Flash Preview

Sample savings$00%

10x traffic gap$0

Context-window winner: Gemini 3 Flash Preview. 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 Flash Preview, balanced workload favors Grok Build 0.1, and output-heavy chatbot favors Grok Build 0.1.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemini 3 Flash Preview	Grok Build 0.1
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemini 3 Flash Preview	$4	$6
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Grok Build 0.1	$3.5	$3
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Grok Build 0.1	$15.5	$11

Cheaper input Gemini 3 Flash Preview $0.5 vs $1 / 1M

Gemini 3 Flash Preview is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).

Cheaper output Grok Build 0.1 $3 vs $2 / 1M

Grok Build 0.1 is $1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3 Flash Preview 1.05M vs 256K

Gemini 3 Flash Preview has 792.58K more context (4.1x larger).

Sample workload Tie $2 vs $2

Both models have the same estimated cost for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload: $2.

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemini 3 Flash Preview Calculating… Estimated API cost

Grok Build 0.1 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 Flash Preview has the lower input price; Grok Build 0.1 has the lower output price; Gemini 3 Flash Preview 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 $2 for Gemini 3 Flash Preview and $2 for Grok Build 0.1.

Best Fit

Choose Gemini 3 Flash Preview when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Grok Build 0.1 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

Both models are estimated at $2 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: $2.
Gemini 3 Flash Preview is $0.5 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
Grok Build 0.1 is $1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
Gemini 3 Flash Preview has 792.58K more context (4.1x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	🔥Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Google)	NewGrok Build 0.1 (xAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.5	$1
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$3	$2
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2	$2
Context Window	1.05M	256K
Release Date	2025-12-17	2026-05-20
Popularity	#7

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Tie	Both models are estimated at $2 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
High-volume input processing	Gemini 3 Flash Preview	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Grok Build 0.1	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 3 Flash 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 Flash Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 3 Flash Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3 Flash Preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3 Flash 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 offers 2M context with $2.5 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

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Provider catalogs

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Google catalog

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xAI catalog

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Gemini 3 Flash Preview

Gemini 3 Flash Preview is a high speed, high value thinking model designed for agentic workflows, multi turn chat, and coding assistance. It delivers near Pro level reasoning and tool...

Grok Build 0.1

Grok Build 0.1 is xAI’s fast coding model trained specifically for agentic software engineering workflows. It supports text and image inputs with text output, and is optimized for interactive coding...