Reka Flash 3 vs ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B comes out ahead, 57 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Reka AIReka Flash 3
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.20
- Context66K
- Our pick
BaiduERNIE 4.5 21B A3B
57/100- ECI—
- Price$0.07 / $0.28
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is our pick
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Reka Flash 3 (50). It leads on 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 priceERNIE 4.5 21B A3BERNIE 4.5 21B A3B $0.122 · Reka Flash 3 $0.125 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextERNIE 4.5 21B A3BERNIE 4.5 21B A3B 131,072 · Reka Flash 3 65,536 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsReka Flash 3: Text · ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Reka Flash 3 | ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 89 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 10 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 12 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 57/100 |
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 | Reka Flash 3Reka AI | ERNIE 4.5 21B A3BBaidu |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.10 | $0.07 (best) |
| Output | $0.20 (best) | $0.28 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.125 | $0.122 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 58,982 tokens (best) | 8,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache-2.0 |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 3 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Mar 10, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 31, 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Reka Flash 3$1.40
- ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B$1.26
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Reka Flash 3 or ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Reka Flash 3 (50). It leads on 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, Reka Flash 3 or ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is cheaper at $0.07 input / $0.28 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Reka Flash 3 costs $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.122 per million tokens for ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B versus $0.125 for Reka Flash 3 (1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Reka Flash 3 has not been scored yet and ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Reka Flash 3 and ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Reka Flash 3 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 65,536 for Reka Flash 3. Maximum output per response: Reka Flash 3 up to 58,982, ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B up to 8,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Reka Flash 3 accepts text; ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
ERNIE 4.5 21B A3B is the newest, released Jun 30, 2025. Reka Flash 3 came out Mar 10, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Reka Flash 3 Jan 31, 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.
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