ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs o4-mini-deep-research

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 83 to 48 and 37 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Google

    Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05

    Released Jun 5, 2025

    48/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.22 / $9.75
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    83/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  3. OpenAI

    o4-mini-deep-research

    Released Jun 26, 2025

    37/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.80 / $7.20
    • Context200K
    Full specs Remove o4-mini-deep-research
01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 (48) and o4-mini-deep-research (37). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 priceGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 · o4-mini-deep-research $3.15 · Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 $3.35 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 and Gemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 1,048,576 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · o4-mini-deep-research 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · o4-mini-deep-research: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05Gemini 2.5 Flash-Liteo4-mini-deep-research
Price50%248225
Inputs & features30%8010060
Context window20%616132
Overall100%48/10083/10037/100

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 Pro Preview 06-05 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs o4-mini-deep-research specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05GoogleGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogleo4-mini-deep-researchOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$1.22$0.10 (best)$1.80
Output$9.75$0.40 (best)$7.20
Cached input—$0.01—
Blended (3:1)$3.35$0.175 (best)$3.15
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 4 providersOfficial Google APIMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)1,048,576 tokens (best)200,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens65,536 tokens100,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesYes
PDFsYesYesNo
AudioYesYesNo
VideoNoYesNo
ReasoningYesYesYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—gemini-2.5-flash-lite—
API providers424 (best)1
ReleasedJun 5, 2025Jun 17, 2025Jun 26, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJan 31, 2025Jan 2025May 2024
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 Pro Preview 06-05$31.69
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
  • o4-mini-deep-research$32.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or o4-mini-deep-research?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 (48) and o4-mini-deep-research (37). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 Pro Preview 06-05, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or o4-mini-deep-research?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). o4-mini-deep-research costs $1.80 input / $7.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider); Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 costs $1.22 input / $9.75 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.175 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite versus $3.15 for o4-mini-deep-research (18× as much) and $3.35 for Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 (19× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 has not been scored yet, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet and o4-mini-deep-research has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and o4-mini-deep-research yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite have the largest context windows (1,048,576 and 1,048,576 tokens), against 200,000 for o4-mini-deep-research. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 up to 65,536, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536, o4-mini-deep-research up to 100,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 accepts text, images, PDFs and audio; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; o4-mini-deep-research accepts text and images. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and o4-mini-deep-research are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

o4-mini-deep-research is the newest, released Jun 26, 2025. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite came out Jun 17, 2025; Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 came out Jun 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06-05 Jan 31, 2025, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025, o4-mini-deep-research May 2024.

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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