Model comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
Compare Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite API pricing: input/output token costs, cache pricing, context windows, workload estimates, and routing fit.
Claude Sonnet 4.6
anthropic · claude-sonnet-4-6
- Input
- $3
- Output
- $15
- Context
- 1M
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
gemini · gemini/gemini-3.1-flash-lite
- Input
- $0.25
- Output
- $1.5
- Context
- 1M
Quick take
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite has the lower input price at $0.25 per 1M input tokens. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is cheaper for the example blended workload below. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite has the larger context window at 1M tokens.
Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 if...
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is a reasonable pick when its provider, latency, or integration path fits your stack better.
Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite if...
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is the better default for cost-sensitive traffic and repeated high-volume calls.
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is safer for long documents, repository analysis, and RAG prompts because it has the larger context window.
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite gives more room for long generated answers, reports, or code output.
Example workload cost
Estimates use input tokens plus 20% output tokens. They exclude provider discounts, cache hits, and tool/search surcharges.
| Workload | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M input + 200K output | $6.00 | $0.55 | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite |
| 10M input + 2M output | $60.00 | $5.50 | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite |
| 100M input + 20M output | $600.00 | $55.00 | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite |
Context, output, and capability fit
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite provides the larger context window. Check max output separately when the task needs long reports, code generation, or full-document rewrites.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 max output
- 64K
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite max output
- 65.5K
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 features
- prompt caching, function calling, vision
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite features
- prompt caching, function calling, vision
Risk notes for Claude Sonnet 4.6
- No major capability risk is flagged in this snapshot, but provider pages should still be verified before production routing.
Risk notes for Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
- No major capability risk is flagged in this snapshot, but provider pages should still be verified before production routing.
Routing tags
frontierreasoningcodingagentsenterprise-ragcache-friendlyragbudgetfasthigh-volumestablemultimodal