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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Muse Spark Open vs Gemini 3.6 Flash

Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead, 72 to 68 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Meta

    Muse Spark Open

    Released Oct 15, 2026New

    68/100
    • ECI155.1
    • Price$1.25 / $4.25
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Muse Spark Open
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 3.6 Flash

    Released Jul 21, 2026

    72/100
    • ECI154.7
    • Price$0.75 / $3.75
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 3.6 Flash

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 3.6 Flash is our pick

Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against 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
  • Lowest priceGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash $1.50 · Muse Spark Open $2.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameMuse Spark Open 1,048,576 · Gemini 3.6 Flash 1,048,576 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 3.6 FlashMuse Spark Open: Text, Images, Audio, Video · Gemini 3.6 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingMuse Spark OpenPublishes downloadable weights (Muse Model License)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMuse Spark OpenGemini 3.6 Flash
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8382
Price25%3440
Inputs & features15%80100
Context window10%6161
Overall100%68/10072/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Muse Spark Open vs Gemini 3.6 Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationMuse Spark OpenMetaGemini 3.6 FlashGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)155.1 (best)154.7
ECI rank#39 of 165 (best)#42 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions88.6%94.1% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics69.8% (best)59.0%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics98.1% (best)94.2%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions56.6%66.2% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25$0.75 (best)
Output$4.25$3.75 (best)
Cached input—$0.075
Blended (3:1)$2.00$1.50 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 16 providersOfficial Google API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens1,048,576 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioYesYes
VideoYesYes
ReasoningYesYesminimal · low · medium · high
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenMuse Model LicenseProprietary
API model ID—gemini-3.6-flash
API providers1631 (best)
ReleasedOct 15, 2026Jul 21, 2026
Knowledge cutoffJan 4, 2026Mar 2026
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.

  • Muse Spark Open$21.00
  • Gemini 3.6 Flash$15.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Muse Spark Open or Gemini 3.6 Flash?

Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against 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, Muse Spark Open or Gemini 3.6 Flash?

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). 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).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Muse Spark Open scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Muse Spark Open 155.1 (#39 of 165) and Gemini 3.6 Flash 154.7 (#42 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: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 3.6 Flash 94.1%, Muse Spark Open 88.6%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Muse Spark Open 69.8%, Gemini 3.6 Flash 59.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Muse Spark Open 98.1%, Gemini 3.6 Flash 94.2%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 3.6 Flash 66.2%, Muse Spark Open 56.6%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Muse Spark Open and Gemini 3.6 Flash 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Muse Spark Open and Gemini 3.6 Flash share the same 1,048,576-token context window. Maximum output per response: Muse Spark Open up to 131,072, Gemini 3.6 Flash up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Muse Spark Open accepts text, images, audio and video; Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio 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 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Muse Spark Open is the newest, released Oct 15, 2026. Gemini 3.6 Flash came out Jul 21, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Muse Spark Open Jan 4, 2026, Gemini 3.6 Flash Mar 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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