Flint (free) is free for input tokens while Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.82 per 1M tokens.
API cost decision in 10 seconds
NewFlint (free) vs Gemini 3.8 Flash
Pick Flint (free) for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.8 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 Flint (free) for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.8 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Flint (free) is estimated at $0 vs $2.89 for Gemini 3.8 Flash, saving $2.89 (100% lower).
Cost-first pickFlint (free)
Context-first pickGemini 3.8 Flash
Sample savings$2.89100%
10x traffic gap$28.88
Gemini 3.8 Flash has more context, but Flint (free) saves $2.89 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $28.88. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Flint (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Flint (free) | Gemini 3.8 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Flint (free) | $0 | $6.19 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Flint (free) | $0 | $4.95 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Flint (free) | $0 | $21.45 |
Flint (free) is free for output tokens while Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $4.12 per 1M tokens.
Gemini 3.8 Flash has 786.43K more context (4x larger).
Flint (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $2.89.
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
Flint (free) has the lower input price; Flint (free) has the lower output price; Gemini 3.8 Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Flint (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0 for Flint (free) and $2.89 for Gemini 3.8 Flash.
Choose Flint (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose Gemini 3.8 Flash when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Flint (free) is estimated at $0 vs $2.89 for Gemini 3.8 Flash, saving $2.89 (100% lower).
- Flint (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $2.89.
- Flint (free) is free for input tokens while Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.82 per 1M tokens.
- Flint (free) is free for output tokens while Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $4.12 per 1M tokens.
- Gemini 3.8 Flash has 786.43K more context (4x larger).
| Feature | NewFlint (free) (Recursive) | Gemini 3.8 Flash (Google) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0 | $0.825 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0 | $4.125 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0 | $2.89 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 1.05M |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Flint (free) | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Flint (free) is estimated at $0 vs $2.89 for Gemini 3.8 Flash, saving $2.89 (100% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Flint (free) | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Flint (free) | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Gemini 3.8 Flash | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 3.8 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 3.8 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3.8 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3.8 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #2
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 · DeepSeek · #3
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash · Xiaomi · #4
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.
Open largest context modelsProvider catalogs
Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.
Open provider hubsRecursive catalog
Review all tracked Recursive models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Recursive modelsGoogle catalog
Check other Google models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Google modelsFlint is an open-weight mixture-of-experts model from Recursive, with about 2.5B active parameters out of 40B total, built by Recursive's autoresearch system Eureka Machine for coding agents. It is suited...
Gemini 3.8 Flash is Google's most intelligent Flash model with significant gains from 3.7 Flash across software engineering, agentic tasks, and multi-step reasoning.