Google Gemini 3.6 Flash Launches at $1.50 per Million Input Tokens

Google has released three new lightweight Gemini models designed to lower costs and improve speed for developers building AI applications. This update gives teams more affordable options for high-volume tasks like coding assistance and fast text generation. The new models shift the focus from raw intelligence to efficiency, allowing users to run more queries for less money. Developers who rely on frequent API calls can now optimize their budgets without sacrificing the core capabilities of the Gemini family.

New models lower costs and boost speed for developer workloads

The announcement introduces Gemini 3.6 Flash as the new mainstream model for coding and multimodal tasks. Google also launched Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, which targets latency-sensitive workloads with faster response times. A third model, Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber, specializes in cybersecurity vulnerability patching for specific enterprise needs. These releases expand the non-frontier tier of the Gemini lineup, offering specialized tools for different developer workflows.

Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens. It scored 49% on the DeepSWE benchmark and improved to 63.9% on MLE Bench compared to its predecessor. The model uses 17% fewer output tokens than Gemini 3.5 Flash on the Artificial Analysis Index. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite offers a faster generation speed of up to 350 output tokens per second. Its pricing is significantly lower at $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens.

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite scored 54% on Terminal-Bench 2.1 and 72.2% on the GDM-MRCR v2 long-context benchmark. Google states that this Lite model significantly outperforms the previous Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite version. The specialized Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber model is initially available only to governments and trusted partners. This limited rollout suggests a focus on security compliance before a broader public release. Both the 3.6 Flash and 3.5 Flash-Lite models are available globally right now.

Google provided an early glimpse of the upcoming Gemini 4, confirming it is currently in the pre-training phase. Meanwhile, the Gemini 3.5 Pro model remains in testing with partners and has not yet reached general availability. The company plans to release Pro to the public when it is ready for broader use. We've been tracking Gemini closely — see our earlier coverage on Google Gemini 3.5 Flash Adds Built-In. The current focus remains on optimizing the existing 3.x lineup for immediate developer needs.