Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Muse Spark Open vs Muse Spark 1.1
Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead, 72 to 69 and 68 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.6 Flash
72/100- ECI154.7
- Price$0.75 / $3.75
- Context1.05M
MetaMuse Spark Open
68/100- ECI155.1
- Price$1.25 / $4.25
- Context1.05M
- Meta
Muse Spark 1.1
69/100- ECI154.2
- Price$1.25 / $4.25
- Context1.05M
Gemini 3.6 Flash is our pick
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Muse Spark 1.1 (69) and Muse Spark Open (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityMuse Spark OpenCapabilities Index (ECI): Muse Spark Open 155.1 · Gemini 3.6 Flash 154.7 · Muse Spark 1.1 154.2
- Lowest priceGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash $1.50 · Muse Spark Open $2.00 · Muse Spark 1.1 $2.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameGemini 3.6 Flash 1,048,576 · Muse Spark Open 1,048,576 · Muse Spark 1.1 1,048,576 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Muse Spark Open: Text, Images, Audio, Video · Muse Spark 1.1: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingMuse Spark OpenPublishes downloadable weights (Muse Model License)
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Muse Spark Open | Muse Spark 1.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 82 | 83 | 82 |
| Price | 25% | 40 | 34 | 34 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 100 | 80 | 90 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 61 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 72/100 | 68/100 | 69/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 3.6 FlashGoogle | Muse Spark OpenMeta | Muse Spark 1.1Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 154.7 | 155.1 (best) | 154.2 |
| ECI rank | #42 of 165 | #39 of 165 (best) | #46 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 94.1% (best) | 88.6% | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 59.0% | 69.8% (best) | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 94.2% | 98.1% (best) | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 66.2% (best) | 56.6% | 57.8% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.75 (best) | $1.25 | $1.25 |
| Output | $3.75 (best) | $4.25 | $4.25 |
| Cached input | $0.075 (best) | — | $0.15 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.50 (best) | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Median of 16 providers | Official Meta API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 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 | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenMuse Model License | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gemini-3.6-flash | — | muse-spark-1.1 |
| API providers | 31 (best) | 16 | 15 |
| Released | Jul 21, 2026 | Oct 15, 2026 | Jul 9, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2026 | Jan 4, 2026 | — |
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
- Muse Spark Open$21.00
- Muse Spark 1.1$21.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 3.6 Flash, Muse Spark Open or Muse Spark 1.1?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Muse Spark 1.1 (69) and Muse Spark Open (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Muse Spark Open or Muse Spark 1.1?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is cheaper at $0.75 input / $3.75 output per million tokens (official Google API price). Muse Spark Open costs $1.25 input / $4.25 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers); Muse Spark 1.1 costs $1.25 input / $4.25 output per million tokens (official Meta API price). 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 $2.00 for Muse Spark Open (1.3× as much) and $2.00 for Muse Spark 1.1 (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Muse Spark Open scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Muse Spark Open 155.1 (#39 of 165), Gemini 3.6 Flash 154.7 (#42 of 165) and Muse Spark 1.1 154.2 (#46 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.1–157.3 vs 153.0–156.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 3.6 Flash 66.2%, Muse Spark 1.1 57.8%, Muse Spark Open 56.6%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 3.6 Flash, Muse Spark Open and Muse Spark 1.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Muse Spark Open leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.6 Flash, Muse Spark Open and Muse Spark 1.1 share the same 1,048,576-token context window. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.6 Flash up to 65,536, Muse Spark Open up to 131,072, Muse Spark 1.1 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Muse Spark Open accepts text, images, audio and video; Muse Spark 1.1 accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Gemini 3.6 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Muse Spark Open publishes its weights (Muse Model License) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 3.6 Flash and Muse Spark 1.1 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Muse Spark Open is the newest, released Oct 15, 2026. Gemini 3.6 Flash came out Jul 21, 2026; Muse Spark 1.1 came out Jul 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.6 Flash Mar 2026, Muse Spark Open Jan 4, 2026.
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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