Compare / Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 16 results on 2 sources that measured both models.
Results as of 8 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-08-4199ce0620fe).
Gemini 3.8 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon? The short answer
Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 52.6 against 40.9) at about the same price.
- Gemini 4 Argon scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 52.6 against 40.9.
- Gemini 4 Argon is newer: released 30 Sep 2026, against 2 Sep 2026 for Gemini 3.8 Flash.
- 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.
At a glance
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $1.50 in · $7.50 out | Not on sale |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $3.00 | – |
| Cheapest host, blended | $1.50 (Google) | – |
| Intelligence Index | 40.9 | 52.6 |
| Spring Prompt overall | 61 | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | 147 | – |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | – |
| Released | 2 Sep 2026 | 30 Sep 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 models available today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. The better rank is in green.
| Use case | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Product listingsTurning a sparse product feed and photos into listings that can go live | 12 of 20 | not measured |
| Decks from an analysisTurning a finished analysis into a deck you could present as it is | 12 of 19 | not measured |
| Marketing planningPlanning a year of ad spend without overspending | 7 of 19 | not measured |
| Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls | 31 of 164 | 3 of 165 |
| Professional workReal tasks from banking, consulting and law, business documents and freelance projects | 11 of 51 | not measured |
| Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge | 12 of 198 | 3 of 199 |
| WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality | 2 of 188 | 1 of 189 |
| Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers | 12 of 152 | 1 of 153 |
| Speed under pressureGood decisions against a real clock (fast chess) | 6 of 22 | not measured |
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. 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 3.8 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,495high reasoning | 1,525high reasoning |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better | 1,477high reasoning | 1,511high reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,481high reasoning | 1,522high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better | 40.9high reasoning | 52.6high reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better | 47.8%high reasoning | 57.1%high reasoning |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better | 19.7%high reasoning | 57.1%high reasoning |
Show all 16 results (10 more)
| Measure | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 8 results | ||
| Confirmed task success · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better | 0.07high reasoning, arena agent | 0.15high reasoning, arena agent |
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,485high reasoning | 1,519high reasoning |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,526high reasoning | 1,539high reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,486high reasoning | 1,528high reasoning |
| Praise over complaint · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better | 0.05high reasoning, arena agent | 0.28high reasoning, arena agent |
| Steerability · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better | 0.03high reasoning, arena agent | 0.13high reasoning, arena agent |
| Tool grounding · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better | 0.00high reasoning, arena agent | 0.00high reasoning, arena agent |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,487high reasoning | 1,522high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 2 results | ||
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better | 84.0%medium reasoning | 79.7%high reasoning |
| SciCode% of problems, higher is better | 56.6%high reasoning | 61.8%high reasoning |
Quick answers
Is Gemini 3.8 Flash better than Gemini 4 Argon?
Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 52.6 against 40.9) at about the same price.
Run Gemini 3.8 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.