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AI Choice Engine

Model comparison

Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs GPT-5.4 Nano

Google against OpenAI, compared on context, price, and verified benchmark results.

Catalog record checked September 26, 2026Individual provider fields may changeEvidence confidence: High — see receipts below

Google

Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite

Budget

vs

OpenAI

GPT-5.4 Nano

Budget

AI model capability comparison
SpecificationGemini 3.1 Flash-LiteGPT-5.4 Nano
ProviderGoogleOpenAI
TierBudgetBudget
Context windowWinner: 1.05M400K
Max output66KWinner: 128K
Input / 1M tokens$0.25Winner: $0.20
Output / 1M tokens$1.50Winner: $1.25
WeightsClosedClosed
ParametersNot disclosedUnverifiedNot disclosedUnverified
Reasoning levelsNot verifiedUnverifiednone, low, medium, high, xhigh
Modalitiestext, image, video, audio, pdftext, image
API model idgemini-3.1-flash-litegpt-5.4-nano
ReleasedMay 7, 2026March 17, 2026
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (2026-09-26)15.6Not verifiedUnverified
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index [xhigh] (2026-09-26)Not verifiedUnverified20.7

Prices are USD per million tokens at standard rates, excluding batch and caching discounts. Bold indicates the better figure where one is objectively better. Values we could not confirm from the provider are shown as “Not verified” rather than estimated.

Benchmark receipts

Where each score comes from, and how far it can be compared across models.

  • 2026-09-26
    Artificial Analysis

    Composite index blending reasoning, knowledge, and coding evals into one 0–100 score.

    Comparable with caveatOnly same-version scores are comparable. v4.3.2 was rebaselined (the top score fell from 66 on v4.1.1 to ~58), so v4.1.1 figures must not be compared with v4.3.2 figures — check measuredAt.

Pricing tiers

Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: $0.25 input (text, image, video; $0.50 audio) / $1.50 output per MTok; cached input $0.025. GA 2026-05-07 after a 2026-03-03 preview; shutdown no earlier than 2027-05-07.

GPT-5.4 Nano: Standard $0.20/$1.25 per MTok; cached input $0.02/MTok; batch $0.10/$0.625.

BudgetRecord checked September 26, 2026

Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite

Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is Google's cheapest current Gemini API model for high-volume, latency-sensitive pipelines.

Best for

  • High-volume extraction
  • Classification
  • Cheap multimodal input

Watch out

Google recommends 3.5 Flash-Lite for new work, and 3.1 Flash-Lite's earliest shutdown date is 2027-05-07; well behind Flash models on reasoning.

BudgetRecord checked September 26, 2026

GPT-5.4 Nano

GPT-5.4 Nano is OpenAI's small classification and extraction tier at $0.20/$1.25 — no longer its cheapest model (GPT-6 Luna lists $0.10/$0.50).

Best for

  • Classification
  • Summarisation
  • High-volume chat

Watch out

Smallest tier; not for hard reasoning or coding.

When the cheaper one wins

GPT-5.4 Nano is cheaper on output at $1.25 per million tokens against $1.50 for Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite — about 1.2×. Use the cheaper tier for classification, extraction, summarisation, and any task where the expensive model’s extra score does not change the accepted output. The expensive one only pays if your hardest task actually fails on the cheap tier. These are standard-tier API rates, excluding batch and cache discounts.

Run the model picker

Evidence confidence: High

How strong and complete the evidence behind this comparison is — not a prediction of which model is better.

  • Pricing verified on both sides — Input and output rates are verified for both models.
  • 3/5 core specs verified on both sides — Not published for at least one side: parameter count, reasoning levels.
  • 1 shared named benchmark with differing scores — Measured on: Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
  • Verified within the last 90 days — Newest catalog check was 2 days ago.
  • Both models carry source citations — Each side has at least two catalog sources on record.

Source receipts

Each catalog figure was checked against the provider or an independent second source on the date shown.

Related comparisons

Diving deeper on one model? Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite · GPT-5.4 Nano

Common questions

Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs GPT-5.4 Nano

Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.

Is Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or GPT-5.4 Nano cheaper for input?
GPT-5.4 Nano is cheaper at $0.20 per million input tokens, against $0.25 for Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite — roughly 1.3× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite has tiered pricing: $0.25 input (text, image, video; $0.50 audio) / $1.50 output per MTok; cached input $0.025. GA 2026-05-07 after a 2026-03-03 preview; shutdown no earlier than 2027-05-07. GPT-5.4 Nano has tiered pricing: Standard $0.20/$1.25 per MTok; cached input $0.02/MTok; batch $0.10/$0.625.
Is Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or GPT-5.4 Nano cheaper for output?
GPT-5.4 Nano is cheaper at $1.25 per million output tokens, against $1.50 for Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite — roughly 1.2× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite has tiered pricing: $0.25 input (text, image, video; $0.50 audio) / $1.50 output per MTok; cached input $0.025. GA 2026-05-07 after a 2026-03-03 preview; shutdown no earlier than 2027-05-07. GPT-5.4 Nano has tiered pricing: Standard $0.20/$1.25 per MTok; cached input $0.02/MTok; batch $0.10/$0.625.
Which has the larger context window, Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or GPT-5.4 Nano?
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite accepts 1.05M tokens against 400K for GPT-5.4 Nano. This only matters if you routinely send very long documents or large codebases.
Should I use Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite or GPT-5.4 Nano?
Both sit in the budget tier, so the choice usually comes down to price and context rather than capability. Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite suits high-volume extraction; GPT-5.4 Nano suits classification.

Next step

Choosing between them

The verified figures that separate this pair, computed from the catalog rather than restated boilerplate.

  • Input price: GPT-5.4 Nano costs $0.20 per 1M tokens versus $0.25 for Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite — a 1.3x difference at the headline tier.
  • Context: Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite takes 1.05M against 400K for GPT-5.4 Nano — only decisive if your prompts approach the smaller window.
  • Measured capability: GPT-5.4 Nano leads Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 20.7 to 15.6 (measured 2026-09-26).
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