Google · AI model
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Low-latency, low-cost Gemini 3 model (GA July 2026) for high-volume agentic tasks, subagents and document parsing. Text, image, video, audio and PDF input, text output, 1,048,576-token input limit.
Last verified Available 11 sources
Key specs
- Provider
- Family
- Gemini 3
- API identifier
- gemini-3.5-flash-lite
- Availability
- Available
- Release date
- 2026-07-21
- License
- Proprietary (Gemini API Additional Terms of Service)
- Context window
- 1,048,576 tokens
- Max output
- 65,536 tokens
- Knowledge cutoff
- March 2026
- API access
- Yes
- Consumer app
- Yes
Capabilities
Inputs
- Text input Yes
- Image input Yes
- Audio input Yes
- Video input Yes
- File input Yes PDF input
Outputs
- Text output Yes
- Image output No Image generation: not supported
- Audio output No Audio generation: not supported
Features
- Reasoning Native Default listed as 'On (minimal)'; thinking_level minimal, low, medium or high. No setting to turn thinking off is documented for Gemini 3 models
- Tool calling Yes Function calling supported
- Web search Yes Grounding with Google Search supported (billed per search request)
"Unknown" means we have not verified this capability yet; it does not mean the model lacks it.
Pricing
Estimate your monthly cost →| Dimension | Tier | Price | Since | Verified | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input tokens | base | $0.30 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Standard, paid tier; text / image / video / audio |
| Cached input tokens | base | $0.03 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Context caching price |
| Cache storage | base | $1.00 per 1M tokens per hour | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Context caching storage price (per 1M tokens per hour) |
| Output tokens | base | $2.50 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Includes thinking tokens |
| Batch input tokens | base | $0.15 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Batch API price as listed on pricing page (50% of Standard) |
| Batch output tokens | base | $1.25 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Batch API price as listed on pricing page (50% of Standard), includes thinking tokens |
| Tool and search requests | Grounding with Google Maps | $14.00 per 1,000 requests | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Paid tier: 5,000 free requests per month (shared across all Gemini 3 and newer models), then USD 14 per 1,000 search queries |
| Grounding with Google Search | $14.00 per 1,000 requests | 2026-10-12 | 2026-10-25 | Gemini Developer API pricing Paid tier: 5,000 free search requests per month (shared across all Gemini 3 and newer models), then this price; each Google Search query triggered by a request is charged |
Prices are shown in the currency the provider publishes; we never convert currencies.
Price history (8 entries)
| Dimension | Tier | Price | From | Until |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input tokens | base | $0.30 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | current |
| Cached input tokens | base | $0.03 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | current |
| Cache storage | base | $1.00 per 1M tokens per hour | 2026-10-12 | current |
| Output tokens | base | $2.50 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | current |
| Batch input tokens | base | $0.15 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | current |
| Batch output tokens | base | $1.25 per 1M tokens | 2026-10-12 | current |
| Tool and search requests | Grounding with Google Maps | $14.00 per 1,000 requests | 2026-10-12 | current |
| Tool and search requests | Grounding with Google Search | $14.00 per 1,000 requests | 2026-10-12 | current |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Setting | Score | Reported by | Measured | Verified | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AutomationBench % tasks completed correctly, higher is better | v1.0.6; high effort | 3.35 % | Third party | — | 2026-10-25 | AutomationBench AI benchmark leaderboard (Zapier) |
| v1.0.6; low effort | 0 % | Third party | — | 2026-10-25 | AutomationBench AI benchmark leaderboard (Zapier) | |
| v1.0.6; medium effort | 3.96 % | Third party | — | 2026-10-25 | AutomationBench AI benchmark leaderboard (Zapier) | |
| CharXiv Reasoning accuracy %, higher is better | reasoning questions; no tools; high effort | 74.5 % | Self-reported | — | 2026-10-25 | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite model card - Google DeepMind |
| reasoning questions; with tools (search and code execution); high effort | 76.5 % | Self-reported | — | 2026-10-25 | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite model card - Google DeepMind | |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) accuracy %, higher is better | Tiers 1-3 v2; high effort; Epoch harness (Python tool) | 26 % | Third party | 2026-08-02 | 2026-10-25 | FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) leaderboard (Epoch AI) |
| GDPval-AA v2.1 Elo, higher is better | v2.1; effort not shown; Artificial Analysis Stirrup agent harness | 985 Elo | Third party | 2026-10-25 | 2026-10-25 | GDPval-AA v2.1 Leaderboard (Artificial Analysis) |
| Humanity's Last Exam accuracy %, higher is better | settings not stated (tools, effort, judge and subset not given) | 18 % | Self-reported | — | 2026-10-25 | What's new in Gemini 3.6 Flash and 3.5 Flash-Lite |
| Text Arena Arena score, higher is better | Overall, style control on; effort not in model name | 1,455 | Third party | 2026-10-23 | 2026-10-25 | Text Arena leaderboard (Arena) |
Leaderboard versions (for example 1.0.5 and 1.0.6) are not comparable. Some results use fallback routing for refused steps: for "Claude Fable 5.1 (with Opus 5 Fallback)", Opus 5 handled 260 of 657 tasks. Artificial Analysis runs a separate leaderboard, AutomationBench-AA, which uses a guardrail-adjusted metric; its scores are not comparable with Zapier's. The partial_credit metric is for diagnostics only. The leaderboard shows no per-row evaluation dates.
There is no maintained public leaderboard (the project site says it is under construction), so almost all current numbers are self-reported by providers. Results with tools such as a code interpreter are much higher than without: Alibaba reports 83.7% without and 90.2% with tools for Qwen3.8-27B. Top models now exceed the human baseline, so differences at the top are small and may reflect label noise. Descriptive-question scores are a different metric and must not be recorded here.
FrontierMath was developed with funding from OpenAI, which has exclusive access to a subset of the problems. Scores from v1 and from Tier 4 (a separate 43-problem expansion set) are not comparable with Tiers 1-3 (v2). The best models score about 94%, so the benchmark separates mid-size models better than it separates frontier models. Epoch's numbers come from its own harness (Python tool, 1M-token limit), which can differ from providers' internal setups. Margins are about ±1.4 to ±2.6 points.
Elo is a relative rating: values change as models are added and the scale is re-anchored, so always store the date a rating was read. For example, Anthropic's launch page gives 1846 for Claude Opus 5.5, while the leaderboard on 2026-10-12 shows 1866 (Max, Default Fallback). Earlier versions (Google cites "GDPVal-AA v2") are not comparable. Judging is done by an LLM, not by human experts. Anthropic models are listed with "Default Fallback", meaning refused steps are routed to a fallback model. AA-Briefcase and GDP.pdf are separate evaluations.
Results differ a lot by setting: with tools versus without tools (Anthropic reports 45.9% without tools and 57.4% with tools for Claude Haiku 5.5), and the full set versus the text-only subset. Providers use different judge models and harnesses (Scale uses o3-mini; Alibaba states GPT-4o). Derived sets such as HLE-Verified (a third-party revision with 1,811 scored items), HLE-Rolling and HLE-Diamond are different item sets and are not comparable. The questions are public, so contamination is possible, and community reviews have reported flawed items.
Scores measure voter preference, which can be influenced by answer style and length. The leaderboard offers a style-control adjustment, so record which view was used. Scores shift with every update, so a value is only meaningful together with its leaderboard date. Entries marked "Preliminary" or with few votes have wide confidence intervals. The same model can appear several times with different reasoning-effort suffixes (for example -high or -max). Category views (Coding, Math, Creative Writing and others) are different rankings from Overall.
One row per result, without rank numbers: each result was measured under its own setting (effort level, harness, tools, test version), as stated by the source, and scores compare only within the same setting. Self-reported results come from the provider and have not been reproduced independently.
Rankings
- #4 of 42 in Best AI API as of 2026-10-26
- #18 of 26 in Best AI for students as of 2026-10-26
- #29 of 39 in Best AI for business as of 2026-10-26
Derived from our published ranking snapshots; each ranking explains its criteria and weights.
Compare Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Guides
- AI token pricing explained: input, output, cached and batch rates
- Reasoning models explained: thinking modes, effort and cost
- Multimodal AI explained: image, audio, video and file inputs, and what they cost
- Context windows explained: limits, long-context pricing and recall
- How to choose an AI model: a practical decision framework
About Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite (gemini-3.5-flash-lite) became generally available on 21 July 2026. Google positions it for high-volume, cost-sensitive work such as subagent tasks, document parsing, agentic workflows and simple data extraction. It accepts text, image, video, audio and PDF input, returns text, and uses the minimal thinking level by default. It is the model listed for the free plan of the Gemini app.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- 1,048,576-token input context and 65,536-token output limit
- One input price ($0.30 per 1M tokens) for text, image, video and audio
- Supports function calling, code execution, file search, Google Search and Google Maps grounding, URL context, structured outputs and computer use (preview)
- Thinking defaults to the minimal level and can be raised to low, medium or high
Weaknesses
- Text output only; no image or audio generation
- Higher text/image/video input price ($0.30 vs $0.25) and output price ($2.50 vs $1.50 per 1M tokens) than Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
Sources
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Gemini API
- Gemini deprecations
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite model card - Google DeepMind
- Gemini API Additional Terms of Service | Google AI for Developers
- Gemini thinking | Gemini API
- Gemini Developer API pricing
- What's new in Gemini 3.6 Flash and 3.5 Flash-Lite
- FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) leaderboard (Epoch AI)
- GDPval-AA v2.1 Leaderboard (Artificial Analysis)
- AutomationBench AI benchmark leaderboard (Zapier)
- Text Arena leaderboard (Arena)
Last verified Page updated 2026-10-26