ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 83 to 57 on our weighted score, though ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is 30% cheaper per token.
BaiduERNIE 4.5 21B A3B
57/100- ECI—
- Price$0.07 / $0.28
- Context131K
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
83/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.40
- Context1.05M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B (57). It leads on inputs & features and context window. ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceERNIE 4.5 21B A3BERNIE 4.5 21B A3B $0.122 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteERNIE 4.5 21B A3B: Text · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingERNIE 4.5 21B A3BPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
| Measure | Weight | ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 82 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 100 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 57/100 | 83/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | ERNIE 4.5 21B A3BBaidu | Gemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogle |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.07 (best) | $0.10 |
| Output | $0.28 (best) | $0.40 |
| Cached input | — | $0.01 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.122 (best) | $0.175 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Official Google API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,000 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | Yes |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | gemini-2.5-flash-lite |
| API providers | 1 | 24 (best) |
| Released | Jun 30, 2025 | Jun 17, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jan 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B$1.26
- Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B or Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B (57). It leads on inputs & features and context window. ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B or Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is cheaper at $0.07 input / $0.28 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.122 per million tokens for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B versus $0.175 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B has not been scored yet and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 131,072 for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B. Maximum output per response: ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B up to 8,000, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B accepts text; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is the newest, released Jun 30, 2025. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
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