Gemini 3.8 Flash — Specifications
Compiled by Mustafa Ihsan from the vendor’s published documentation · Last updated
| Developer | |
|---|---|
| Type | Fast / general |
| Modality | Text, Image, Video, Audio, PDF → Text |
| Parameters | Undisclosed |
| Context window | 1M |
| Max output | 65K |
| License | Proprietary |
| Open weights | No |
| Released | 2026-09 |
| Input price | $0.75 /1M |
| Output price | $3.75 /1M |
| API providers | Gemini API (Google AI Studio), Android Studio, Gemini Enterprise |
Benchmarks
| Google-reported | HLE-Verified 54.9%. Prices are introductory until 31 Dec 2026. |
|---|
What is Gemini 3.8 Flash?
Gemini 3.8 Flash is Google’s fast, low-cost Gemini model, released on 2 September 2026. Google calls it its best reasoning and coding model yet at the speed and low cost of 3.7 Flash, with gains in software engineering, agentic tasks and multi-step reasoning; it reports 54.9% on HLE-Verified. A separate Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber variant for vulnerability detection is restricted to vetted security teams.
API pricing is $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 output — an introductory price that Google says expires on 31 December 2026, and half of Gemini 3.6 Flash’s $1.50 / $7.50. Per Google’s API documentation (model code gemini-3.8-flash) it accepts text, images, video, audio and PDF, takes up to 1,048,576 input tokens and returns up to 65,536, and supports thinking levels, function calling, structured output, code execution, search grounding and caching. It does not generate images or audio.
In the Gemini app it is available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers; Google’s plan page still lists Gemini 3.6 Flash for the free plan. It is also in AI Mode in Google Search, Google Sheets and Gemini Enterprise.
Gemini 3.8 Flash pricing: API cost per 1M tokens
| Input (per 1M tokens) | $0.750 |
|---|---|
| Output (per 1M tokens) | $3.75 |
| Output/input ratio | 5× |
| Blended (4:1 in:out) | $1.35 per 1M tokens |
What Gemini 3.8 Flash costs per month
Real monthly spend at a 4:1 input-to-output mix — the ratio a typical chat or RAG workload actually produces.
| Workload | Tokens / month | Cost / month |
|---|---|---|
| Side project | 1M in / 0.25M out | $1.69 |
| Small team | 20M in / 5M out | $34 |
| Production | 200M in / 50M out | $338 |
Run your own numbers in the AI API cost calculator.
Cheaper alternatives to Gemini 3.8 Flash
| Model | Blended $/1M | You save |
|---|---|---|
| Mistral 7B open | $0.0220 | 98% cheaper |
| Llama 3.1 8B open | $0.0220 | 98% cheaper |
| Mistral NeMo 12B open | $0.0240 | 98% cheaper |
Frequently asked questions
How much does Gemini 3.8 Flash cost per 1M tokens?
Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.750 per 1M input tokens and $3.75 per 1M output tokens. At a typical 4:1 input-to-output mix that blends to about $1.35 per 1M tokens.
How much does Gemini 3.8 Flash cost per month?
A small-team workload of 20M input and 5M output tokens a month costs about $34 on Gemini 3.8 Flash. A side project (1M in / 0.25M out) costs roughly $1.69.
What is a cheaper alternative to Gemini 3.8 Flash?
Mistral 7B is the strongest cheaper option in our database at $0.0220 per 1M blended — about 98% less than Gemini 3.8 Flash. It is also open-weight, so self-hosting is an option.
Can I run Gemini 3.8 Flash locally?
No. Gemini 3.8 Flash is a closed, API-only model — the weights are not released, so it cannot be self-hosted.
Why does Gemini 3.8 Flash charge more for output than input?
Output tokens are generated one at a time and cannot be batched the way a prompt can, so they cost the provider more to serve. Gemini 3.8 Flash charges 5× more for output, which is why prompt-heavy workloads are far cheaper to run than generation-heavy ones.
See every Gemini model priced side by side: Gemini API pricing.
Prices are the published list rates for the model's primary API and are reviewed as providers change them. Volume, batch and cached-input discounts are not included. Compare every model side by side in the AI models database or the LLM leaderboard.