Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Qwen3.6 Flash
Price and specs side by side · USD per 1M tokens · verified 2026-10-23
// side by side
| metric | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| input / 1M | $0.30 | $0.25 |
| output / 1M | $2.50 | $1.50 |
| blended (3:1) | $0.85 | $0.5625 |
| cache read / 1M | $0.03 | $0.025 |
| context | 1.05M | 1M |
| max output | 65.5K | 65.5K |
| input types | text · image · video · audio · pdf | text · image · video |
| reasoning | yes | yes |
| tool calling | yes | yes |
| structured output | yes | yes |
| open weights | no | no |
| released | 2026-07-21 | 2026-04-27 |
| knowledge cutoff | 2026-03 | n/a |
| lab | Alibaba (Qwen) |
// monthly cost scenarios
| workload | tokens in / out | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | Qwen3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatbot | 10M / 2M | $8.00 | $5.50 |
| RAG app | 50M / 5M | $27.50 | $20.00 |
| Coding agent | 20M / 10M | $31.00 | $20.00 |
// verdict
- Qwen3.6 Flash is 33.8% cheaper than Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite on a blended 3:1 input/output basis.
- Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has the larger context window (1.05M vs 1M tokens).
- Chatbot (10M input / 2M output tokens per month): Qwen3.6 Flash costs $5.50 vs $8.00 for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite, saving $2.50 per month.
- RAG app (50M input / 5M output tokens per month): Qwen3.6 Flash costs $20.00 vs $27.50 for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite, saving $7.50 per month.
- Coding agent (20M input / 10M output tokens per month): Qwen3.6 Flash costs $20.00 vs $31.00 for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite, saving $11.00 per month.
// Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Qwen3.6 Flash: which one to choose
- Choose Qwen3.6 Flash for cost-sensitive, high-volume workloads.
- Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite for long documents and large codebases (1.05M-token context).