Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash: price
Gemini 3.8 Flash is 2.7× cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5.5 for a typical chat (1,500 tokens in, 500 out).
| Item | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Gemini 3.8 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Input per 1M tokens | $2.00 | $0.75 |
| Output per 1M tokens | $10.00 | $3.75 |
| Cached input per 1M | $0.10 | $0.075 |
| 1,000 chat messages1,500 tokens in, 500 out each | $8.00 | $3.00 |
| Summarize a 50-page PDF30,000 tokens in, 1,000 out | $0.07 | $0.026 |
| One coding-agent task60,000 tokens in, 4,000 out, no caching | $0.16 | $0.06 |
Gemini 3.8 Flash: Promo price through Dec 31, 2026; $1.50 in / $7.50 out from Jan 1, 2027.
List prices checked October 26, 2026. Price is half the story: see how people rate each one today.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash in numbers
Output, usually the bigger part of the bill, costs $10.00 on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and $3.75 on Gemini 3.8 Flash, so Gemini 3.8 Flash is 2.7× cheaper there. Input costs $2.00 versus $0.75 per million tokens. For a coding-agent task (60,000 tokens in, 4,000 out) that is $0.16 on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and $0.06 on Gemini 3.8 Flash. Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts 1M tokens of context and Gemini 3.8 Flash 1.05M tokens. Claude Sonnet 5.5 came out on September 28, 2026 and Gemini 3.8 Flash on September 2, 2026.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is made by Anthropic; Gemini 3.8 Flash by Google. Estimate your own bill for both in the cost calculator.
Which one feels dumber today?
- Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic–no votes yet
- Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle–no votes yet
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 3.8 Flash cheaper?
Gemini 3.8 Flash is 2.7× cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5.5 for a typical chat (1,500 tokens in, 500 out). Output, usually the bigger part of the bill, costs $10.00 on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and $3.75 on Gemini 3.8 Flash, so Gemini 3.8 Flash is 2.7× cheaper there.
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Gemini 3.8 Flash?
It depends on the task, and price is only part of it. Check how people rate each one today on the Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Gemini 3.8 Flash pages, and read what users report in Discussions.