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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 vs Apertus 8B

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 comes out ahead, 81 to 54 on our weighted score, though Apertus 8B is 25% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025

    Released Sep 25, 2025

    81/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.095 / $0.38
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025

  2. Swiss AI

    Apertus 8B

    Released Sep 2, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.20
    • Context66K
    Full specs Remove Apertus 8B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 is the better all-round choice, scoring 81/100 against Apertus 8B (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Apertus 8B 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 priceApertus 8BApertus 8B $0.125 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 $0.166 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 1,048,576 · Apertus 8B 65,536 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Apertus 8B: Text
  • Self-hostingApertus 8BPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025Apertus 8B
Price50%8389
Inputs & features30%9025
Context window20%6112
Overall100%81/10054/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 vs Apertus 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025GoogleApertus 8BSwiss AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.095 (best)$0.10
Output$0.38$0.20 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.166$0.125 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenApache-2.0
API model ID——
API providers2 (best)1
ReleasedSep 25, 2025Sep 2, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJan 2025Sep 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025$1.71
  • Apertus 8B$1.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 or Apertus 8B?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 is the better all-round choice, scoring 81/100 against Apertus 8B (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Apertus 8B 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 or Apertus 8B?

Apertus 8B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 costs $0.095 input / $0.38 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.125 per million tokens for Apertus 8B versus $0.166 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 has not been scored yet and Apertus 8B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 and Apertus 8B 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 Preview 09-2025 has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 65,536 for Apertus 8B. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 up to 65,536, Apertus 8B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Apertus 8B accepts text. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Apertus 8B publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 is the newest, released Sep 25, 2025. Apertus 8B came out Sep 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 09-2025 Jan 2025, Apertus 8B Sep 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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