Gemini 2.0 Flash vs Gemini 3 Flash Preview
Gemini 3 Flash Preview comes out ahead, 82 to 65 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Google
Gemini 2.0 Flash
65/100- ECI134.7
- Price—
- Context1.05M
- Our pick
Google
Gemini 3 Flash Preview
82/100- ECI151.8
- Price$0.50 / $3.00
- Context1.05M
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Gemini 3 Flash Preview is our pick
Gemini 3 Flash Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Gemini 2.0 Flash (65). It leads on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%.
- CapabilityGemini 3 Flash PreviewCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3 Flash Preview 151.8 · Gemini 2.0 Flash 134.7
- Lowest priceGemini 3 Flash PreviewGemini 3 Flash Preview $1.13 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Gemini 2.0 Flash unpriced
- Longest contextAbout the sameGemini 2.0 Flash 1,048,576 · Gemini 3 Flash Preview 1,048,576 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGemini 2.0 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Gemini 3 Flash Preview: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 2.0 Flash | Gemini 3 Flash Preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 67% | 59 | 80 |
| Inputs & features | 20% | 90 | 100 |
| Context window | 13% | 61 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 65/100 | 82/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 134.7 | 151.8 (best) |
| ECI rank | #116 of 148 | #43 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 89.4% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 51.2% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 95.6% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | — | 75.4% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 66.8% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | — | $0.50 |
| Output | — | $3.00 |
| Cached input | — | $0.05 |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $1.13 |
| Long-context rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Official Google API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | Yes | Yes |
| Video | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yesminimal · low · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | gemini-3-flash-preview |
| API providers | — | 20 |
| Released | Dec 11, 2024 | Dec 17, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 2024 | 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.
Gemini 2.0 Flash—
Gemini 3 Flash Preview$11.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 2.0 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash Preview?
Gemini 3 Flash Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Gemini 2.0 Flash (65). It leads on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 67%, inputs & features 20%, context window 13%.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.0 Flash or Gemini 3 Flash Preview?
Gemini 3 Flash Preview is cheaper at $0.50 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.13 per million tokens for Gemini 3 Flash Preview versus . Gemini 2.0 Flash has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Gemini 3 Flash Preview scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3 Flash Preview 151.8 (#43 of 148) and Gemini 2.0 Flash 134.7 (#116 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (150.4–153.7 vs 124.3–136.7), so the gap is a real one.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.0 Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemini 3 Flash Preview leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 2.0 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash Preview share the same 1,048,576-token context window. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.0 Flash up to 8,192, Gemini 3 Flash Preview up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 2.0 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Gemini 3 Flash Preview accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
No. Gemini 2.0 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Gemini 3 Flash Preview is the newest, released Dec 17, 2025. Gemini 2.0 Flash came out Dec 11, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.0 Flash Jun 2024, Gemini 3 Flash Preview 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 Oct 4, 2026.