Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview vs GLM-5V-Turbo
Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead, 63 to 50 and 49 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.6 Flash
63/100- ECI154.3
- Price$0.75 / $3.75
- Context1.05M
- Google
Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview
50/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $5.00
- Context131K
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5V-Turbo
49/100- ECI—
- Price$1.20 / $4.00
- Context200K
Gemini 3.6 Flash is our pick
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (50) and GLM-5V-Turbo (49). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash $1.50 · GLM-5V-Turbo $1.90 · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview $2.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash 1,048,576 · GLM-5V-Turbo 200,000 · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview: Text, Images, Audio, Video · GLM-5V-Turbo: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview | GLM-5V-Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 42 | 36 | 37 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 100 | 90 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 24 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 63/100 | 50/100 | 49/100 |
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 | Gemini 3.6 FlashGoogle | Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 PreviewGoogle | GLM-5V-TurboZ.ai (Zhipu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 154.3 | — | — |
| ECI rank | #34 of 148 | — | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 94.1% | — | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 59.0% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 94.2% | — | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 66.2% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.75 (best) | $1.00 | $1.20 |
| Output | $3.75 (best) | $5.00 | $4.00 |
| Cached input | $0.075 (best) | — | $0.24 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.50 (best) | $2.00 | $1.90 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Median of 1 providers | Official Z.AI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 200,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | Yes |
| Audio | Yes | Yes | No |
| Video | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gemini-3.6-flash | — | glm-5v-turbo |
| API providers | 25 (best) | 1 | 14 |
| Released | Jul 21, 2026 | Apr 14, 2026 | Apr 1, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2026 | 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 3.6 Flash$15.00
- Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview$20.00
- GLM-5V-Turbo$20.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview or GLM-5V-Turbo?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (50) and GLM-5V-Turbo (49). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 3.6 Flash, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview or GLM-5V-Turbo?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is cheaper at $0.75 input / $3.75 output per million tokens (official Google API price). GLM-5V-Turbo costs $1.20 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price); Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview costs $1.00 input / $5.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.50 per million tokens for Gemini 3.6 Flash versus $1.90 for GLM-5V-Turbo (1.3× as much) and $2.00 for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 3.6 Flash has an ECI of 154.3, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview has not been scored yet and GLM-5V-Turbo has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview and GLM-5V-Turbo 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 3.6 Flash has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 200,000 for GLM-5V-Turbo and 131,072 for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.6 Flash up to 65,536, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview up to 65,536, GLM-5V-Turbo up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview accepts text, images, audio and video; GLM-5V-Turbo accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Gemini 3.6 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview and GLM-5V-Turbo are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the newest, released Jul 21, 2026. Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview came out Apr 14, 2026; GLM-5V-Turbo came out Apr 1, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.6 Flash Mar 2026, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 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.
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