Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Step 5 Preview
Prices checked
Gemini 3.6 Flash takes 3 of 5 rounds against Step 5 Preview. It is also the cheaper of the two to run, at $0.75 per million tokens against $1.43.
GoogleWins 3 roundsGemini 3.6 Flash
1M context · tool calling · reads images
$0.75/M tokensCheapest price, at Kilo Gateway · $0.34 per 1,000 pages
StepFunStep 5 Preview
1M context · tool calling · reads images · open weights
$1.43/M tokensStepFun's own price · $0.76 per 1,000 pages
Maker's price in (lower wins)
$0.75/M
$1/M
Maker's price out (lower wins)
$3.75/M
$2.70/M
Cheapest price (lower wins)
$0.75/M at Kilo Gateway
none below the maker
Maker's price, blended (lower wins)
$1.50/M
$1.43/M
Cost per 1,000 pages (lower wins)
$0.34
$0.76
Context
1M tokens
1M tokens
Open weights
no
yes
Tool calling
yes
yes
Structured output
yes
yes
Reads images
yes
yes
Reasoning
yes
yes
Released
21 Jul 2026
16 Sept 2026
Providers selling it
39
23
Price we measure against
the maker's own
the maker's own
Trains on your prompts (no is better)
not published
no provider to check
Providers selling both · 15
Kilo Gateway$0.75 / $1.43
NanoGPT$1.50 / $0.76
Eden AI$1.50 / $1.43
Impossibl$1.50 / $1.43
LLM Gateway$1.50 / $1.43
Nous Portal$1.50 / $1.43
OpenRouter$1.50 / $1.43
Vercel AI Gateway$1.50 / $1.43
Gemini 3.6 Flash, then Step 5 Preview, per million tokens; the 8 cheapest of 15.
Go further
Add a third or fourth model, or change the weighting, in the tool.
What moved this week
- $1 / $2.70 $1.05 / $2.99
Kenari · 75% dearer · $0.60 / $3 $0.34 / $1.71
Poe · 100% dearer · $1.52 / $7.58 $0.76 / $3.79- StepFun · 7% dearer · $1.05 / $2.99 $1 / $2.70
Frequently asked
- Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Step 5 Preview?
- Gemini 3.6 Flash, at $0.75 per million tokens against $1.43 for Step 5 Preview, blended 3 in : 1 out, read on 4 Nov 2026.
- Where is each one cheapest?
- Gemini 3.6 Flash: $0.75 at Kilo Gateway. Step 5 Preview: nobody sells it below the maker's own price with a stated reason, so $1.43 is the number to beat.
- Can I buy both from one provider?
- Yes. 15 providers sell both: Kilo Gateway, NanoGPT, Eden AI, Impossibl, LLM Gateway, Nous Portal, and more. The cheapest of them for the two together is Kilo Gateway.
- Which holds more context?
- Gemini 3.6 Flash, at 1M tokens against 1M.
Prices exclude tax, read 4 Nov 2026 from each provider's own catalog. They are per M tokens, blended 3 in : 1 out, and a page is 600 tokens in and 60 out. Bars are scaled to the larger value in each row.
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