Skip to content
ModelCap

Head-to-head comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Grok 4.6

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite (Google) and Grok 4.6 (xAI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, Grok 4.6 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#10 vs #21); Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite is 2.4× cheaper per output token ($2.50/1M vs $6.00/1M); and Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite offers the longer context window (1M vs 500K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite if…

  • API cost matters — $2.50/1M output tokens against $6.00/1M, about 2.4× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.30/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 500K.
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Grok 4.6 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #10 against #21 (74.4 vs 65.7 points).
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1512 against 1503.
  • ARC-AGI-2 is your yardstick — 67.1% against 10.3%.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 60.9 against 37.4.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Grok 4.6 was listed 12 August 2026, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 21 July 2026.

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Grok 4.6: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Grok 4.6
FieldGemini 3.5 Flash LiteGoogleGrok 4.6xAI
ModelCap Index position#21#10
Index score65.774.4
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.30$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$2.50$6.00
Context window1M tokens500K tokens
Max output tokens66K—
API providers listed21
Weight accessAPI onlyAPI only
Input modalitiesText, Image, Video, File, AudioText, Image, File
First listed21 July 202612 August 2026
PublisherGooglexAI

Evidence: 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards · 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Grok 4.6

Public benchmark boards where Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Grok 4.6 has a published result
BoardGemini 3.5 Flash LiteGrok 4.6Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)15031493–151315121485–1538HighGrok 4.6
LMArena AgentLMArena-10.4%-11.6%–-9.2%—Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation10.3%High67.1%X-HighGrok 4.6
ARC-AGI-3ARC Prize Foundation—2.1%X-HighOnly one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis37.4intelligence-index60.9intelligence-indexGrok 4.6

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Grok 4.6: common questions

Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite better than Grok 4.6?

Grok 4.6 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #10 against #21. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite cheaper than Grok 4.6?

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite is cheaper on output tokens: $2.50/1M against $6.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.30/1M for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and $2.00/1M for Grok 4.6. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Grok 4.6?

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 500K.

Which is better for coding, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Grok 4.6?

Arena coding: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite 1503, Grok 4.6 1512 — Grok 4.6 leads.

Are Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Grok 4.6 open-weight models?

Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite: API only. Grok 4.6: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and Grok 4.6?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite and 1 for Grok 4.6, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Grok 4.6 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

Explore further