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Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs o3

Complete pricing and performance comparison between Google's Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and OpenAI's o3.

Quick Verdict

Cheaper
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
8.0x cheaper input, 5.3x cheaper output
Larger Context
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
1.0M vs 200K
Higher Quality
o3
Score: 38 vs 34
Faster
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
230 vs 74 tok/s

Pricing Comparison

SpecGemini 3.1 Flash-Liteo3Difference
ProviderGoogleOpenAI
Input / 1M tokens$0.25$2Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is 88% more expensive
Output / 1M tokens$1.5$8Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is 81% more expensive
Context Window1.0M200K5x difference
Max Output66K100K
Tokenizercl100k_baseo200k_base

Performance Benchmarks

MetricGemini 3.1 Flash-Liteo3Winner
Quality Index3438o3
Output Speed230 tok/s74 tok/sGemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
Time to First Token5.17s7.97sGemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
Value (Quality/$)134.019.2Higher = better value

Benchmark data from Artificial Analysis. Quality Index is a composite score across reasoning, coding, and knowledge tasks.

Cost at Scale

Estimated cost at different usage levels (3:1 input-to-output token ratio, typical for chat).

UsageGemini 3.1 Flash-Liteo3Savings
Single request
1K in / 300 out
$0.0007$0.0044Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite saves $0.0037
10 requests
10K in / 3K out
$0.0070$0.044Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite saves $0.037
100 requests
100K in / 30K out
$0.070$0.440Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite saves $0.370
1,000 requests
1M in / 300K out
$0.700$4.40Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite saves $3.70
10,000 requests
10M in / 3M out
$7.00$44.00Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite saves $37.00
1M requests/mo
1B in / 300M out
$700.00$4400.00Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite saves $3700.00

Pros & Cons

Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Strengths

  • +Cheaper input tokens
  • +Cheaper output tokens
  • +Larger context window (1.0M vs 200K)
  • +Faster output (230 vs 74 tok/s)
  • +Lower latency (faster first token)

o3 Strengths

  • +Higher max output tokens
  • +Higher quality score (38 vs 34)

When to Use Each Model

Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite for

  • →Budget-conscious projects where cost is the primary factor
  • →Long documents, large codebases, or multi-turn conversations
  • →Real-time applications, chat, or autocomplete

Choose o3 for

  • →Generating long-form content or detailed code
  • →Tasks requiring maximum accuracy and reasoning

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or o3?
For input tokens, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is 8.0x cheaper at $0.25/1M tokens. For output tokens, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is 5.3x cheaper at $1.5/1M tokens. At typical usage (1M input + 300K output), Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite costs $0.700 vs o3 at $4.40.
What's the context window difference?
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite supports 1.0M context (1,048,576 tokens), while o3 supports 200K (200,000 tokens). Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite can handle 5x more context in a single request.
Which model has better benchmarks?
Quality Index: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite scores 34 vs o3 at 38. Speed: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite generates 230 tok/s vs o3 at 74 tok/s. Time to first token: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite at 5.17s vs o3 at 7.97s.
When should I choose Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite over o3?
Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite when you need: Cheaper input tokens, Cheaper output tokens, Larger context window (1.0M vs 200K), Faster output (230 vs 74 tok/s), Lower latency (faster first token). Choose o3 when you need: Higher max output tokens, Higher quality score (38 vs 34).
How much would 10,000 API requests cost?
At 1K input + 300 output tokens per request (typical chat): Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite = $7.00, o3 = $44.00. At 10K input + 1K output per request (longer conversations): Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite = $40.00, o3 = $280.00.

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Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Detailso3 DetailsFull Pricing TableCost Calculator