API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥Gemma 4 31B vs 🔥Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview

Pick Gemma 4 31B for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-17T02:07:32Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Gemma 4 31B for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 4 31B is estimated at $0.3 vs $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview, saving $0.7 (69.5% lower).

Cost-first pickGemma 4 31B

Context-first pickGemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview

Sample savings$0.769.5%

10x traffic gap$6.95

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has more context, but Gemma 4 31B saves $0.7 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $6.95. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cheaper input Gemma 4 31B $0.12 vs $0.25 / 1M

Gemma 4 31B is $0.13 cheaper per 1M input tokens (52% lower; 2.08x difference).

Cheaper output Gemma 4 31B $0.37 vs $1.5 / 1M

Gemma 4 31B is $1.13 cheaper per 1M output tokens (75.3% lower; 4.05x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview 262.14K vs 1.05M

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has 786.43K more context (4x larger).

Sample workload Gemma 4 31B $0.3 vs $1

Gemma 4 31B is $0.7 cheaper on the standard workload (69.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemma 4 31B Calculating… Estimated API cost

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview 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

Gemma 4 31B has the lower input price; Gemma 4 31B has the lower output price; Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Gemma 4 31B is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.3 for Gemma 4 31B and $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview.

Best Fit

Choose Gemma 4 31B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 4 31B is estimated at $0.3 vs $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview, saving $0.7 (69.5% lower).
Gemma 4 31B is $0.7 cheaper on the standard workload (69.5% lower).
Gemma 4 31B is $0.13 cheaper per 1M input tokens (52% lower; 2.08x difference).
Gemma 4 31B is $1.13 cheaper per 1M output tokens (75.3% lower; 4.05x difference).
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview has 786.43K more context (4x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	🔥Gemma 4 31B (Google)	🔥Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview (Google)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.12	$0.25
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.37	$1.5
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.3	$1
Context Window	262.14K	1.05M
Release Date	2026-04-02	2026-03-03
Popularity Rank current rank	#18	#19

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Gemma 4 31B	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 4 31B is estimated at $0.3 vs $1 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview, saving $0.7 (69.5% lower).
High-volume input processing	Gemma 4 31B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Gemma 4 31B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 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 Gemma 4 31B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemma 4 31B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemma 4 31B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemma 4 31B 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.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #3
Owl Alpha · OpenRouter · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Google catalog

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Gemma 4 31B

Gemma 4 31B Instruct is Google DeepMind's 30.7B dense multimodal model supporting text and image input with text output. Features a 256K token context window, configurable thinking/reasoning mode, native function...

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview is Google's high-efficiency model optimized for high-volume use cases. It outperforms Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite on overall quality and approaches Gemini 2.5 Flash performance across...