Compare / Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 21 results on 3 sources that measured both models.
Of the 21 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 14 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-14-7d7cf32c3f6d).
Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon? The short answer
Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 52.6 against 34.0) and costs less.
- Gemini 4 Argon is cheaper to run: $0.004 against $0.011 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (3.1 times less).
- Gemini 4 Argon scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 52.6 against 34.0.
- Gemini 4 Argon is newer: released 13 Oct 2026, against 21 Jul 2026 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
- On our own benchmarks, on the results both models have: Gemini 3.6 Flash does better for speed under pressure.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Gemini 4 Argon does better for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $1.50 in · $7.50 out | $2.00 in · $10.00 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $3.00 | $4.00 |
| Cheapest host, blended | $1.50 (Google) | – |
| Cost per game of bullet chess (BulletBench) | $0.011 | $0.004 |
| Intelligence Index | 34.0 | 52.6 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | 75 |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | – |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Released | 21 Jul 2026 | 13 Oct 2026 (newer) |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Developer based in | the US | the US |
Prices are the developer's list price where we have read it, otherwise the typical host on OpenRouter; see every model's price. Intelligence and speed from Artificial Analysis.
Which is better for what
Each model's rank among the models on sale today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.
From our research
Every shared result
Each model's best result on every measure both have, grouped by benchmark, with the setting that produced it. Under each measure, every model that benchmark has measured is a grey tick, best to the right, so you can see where the two sit in the field. The headline measures of each benchmark come first; the rest are under "Show all". Green marks the better value; where a source reports ranges that overlap, neither is marked.
| Measure | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 3 results | ||
| Cost per game · Bullet 60sUS dollars, lower is better 17 · 10 of 30 measured | $0.0113minimal reasoning | $0.0036 |
| Ladder Elo · Bullet 60sladder Elo, higher is better 6 · 26 of 30 measured | 628minimal reasoning | 147 |
| Games lost on time · Bullet 60s% of games, lower is better 18 · 28 of 30 measured | 41.7%minimal reasoning | 87.5% |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 19 · 1 of 387 measured | 1,483high reasoning | 1,525high reasoning |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 23 · 1 of 163 measured | 1,471high reasoning | 1,511high reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 30 · 1 of 380 measured | 1,472high reasoning | 1,522high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 42 · 5 of 244 measured | 34.0high reasoning | 52.6high reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 38 · 3 of 243 measured | 40.8%high reasoning | 57.1%high reasoning |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 41 · 4 of 113 measured | 7.1%high reasoning | 57.1%high reasoning |
Show all 21 results (12 more)
| Measure | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 2 results | ||
| Invalid moves · Bullet 60s% of moves, lower is better 23 · 1 of 30 measured | 0.3%minimal reasoning | 0.0% |
| Median move time · Bullet 60smilliseconds, lower is better 21 · 28 of 30 measured | 1.6 sminimal reasoning | 2.9 s |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 8 results | ||
| Confirmed task success · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 38 · 3 of 48 measured | -0.06high reasoning, arena agent | 0.15high reasoning, arena agent |
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 12 · 1 of 385 measured | 1,471high reasoning | 1,519high reasoning |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 37 · 7 of 338 measured | 1,500high reasoning | 1,539high reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 28 · 1 of 387 measured | 1,472high reasoning | 1,528high reasoning |
| Praise over complaint · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 38 · 4 of 48 measured | -0.09high reasoning, arena agent | 0.28high reasoning, arena agent |
| Steerability · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 43 · 1 of 48 measured | -0.07high reasoning, arena agent | 0.13high reasoning, arena agent |
| Tool grounding · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 10 · 29 of 48 measured | 0.00high reasoning, arena agent | 0.00high reasoning, arena agent |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 16 · 1 of 386 measured | 1,474high reasoning | 1,522high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 2 results | ||
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 39 · 44 of 234 measured | 80.0%high reasoning | 79.7%high reasoning |
| SciCode% of problems, higher is better 34 · 3 of 114 measured | 53.4%high reasoning | 61.8%high reasoning |
Compare them with other models
- Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Claude Opus 5.5Most intelligent at $3–10 per million tokens
- Gemini 3.6 Flash vs GPT-6.1 SolNear the top overall
- Gemini 4 Argon vs Claude Opus 5.5Most intelligent at $3–10 per million tokens
- Gemini 4 Argon vs Claude Sonnet 5.5Cheapest with similar intelligence
- Gemini 4 Argon vs GPT-6 AstraJust above overall
- Gemini 4 Argon vs Muse WonderJust below overall
Quick answers
Is Gemini 3.6 Flash better than Gemini 4 Argon?
Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 52.6 against 34.0) and costs less.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon is cheaper to run: $0.004 against $0.011 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (3.1 times less).
Which is better for agents and tool use, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 3 of 166 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 50 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 3 of 200 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 33 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Which is better for writing, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 1 of 189 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 14 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 4 Argon ranks 1 of 153 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 22 for Gemini 3.6 Flash.
Which is better for speed under pressure, Gemini 3.6 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
Gemini 3.6 Flash ranks 13 of 25 models on sale for good decisions against a real clock (fast chess), against 20 for Gemini 4 Argon.
Run Gemini 3.6 Flash and Gemini 4 Argon on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.