Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or GPT-5.4 nano: which to choose?

Side-by-side comparison

Criterion	Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite	GPT-5.4 nano
Developer	Google DeepMind	OpenAI
Released	May 7, 2026	March 17, 2026
Capability index	64.3 / 100	71.7 / 100
Input price	$0.25	$0.20
Output price	$1.5	$1.25
Cost of a typical task	$0.008	$0.007
Context window	1,048,576 tokens	400,000 tokens
Maximum output	65,536 tokens	128,000 tokens
Reasoning mode	Yes	Yes
Tool calling	Yes	Yes
Accepted inputs	text, image, video, audio, PDF	text, image
Open weights	No	No
Knowledge cutoff	January 2025	August 31, 2025

Two models head to head

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite and GPT-5.4 nano are two budget models, built for high volumes at a low price, one from Google DeepMind, the other from OpenAI. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite was released on May 7, 2026, GPT-5.4 nano on March 17, 2026.

All figures below come from public sources checked on October 22, 2026: models.dev and OpenRouter for prices and capabilities, Epoch AI for scores.

Performance

On our capability index, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite scores 64.3 out of 100 and GPT-5.4 nano 71.7. GPT-5.4 nano leads by 7.4 points.

On the 3 benchmarks reported for both, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite wins 1 time and GPT-5.4 nano 2:

GPQA Diamond (PhD-level science questions): Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 81.8%, GPT-5.4 nano 78.5%
OTIS Mock AIME (competition mathematics problems): Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 80%, GPT-5.4 nano 87.8%
FrontierMath (very hard research-level mathematics): Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 27.7%, GPT-5.4 nano 44.9%

Budget

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite costs $0.25 per million input tokens and $1.5 per million output tokens; GPT-5.4 nano costs $0.20 and $1.25.

For a typical agent task (read 20,000 tokens, write 2,000), expect $0.008 with Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite versus $0.007 with GPT-5.4 nano. GPT-5.4 nano is 1.2 times cheaper, a gap that adds up quickly over 1,000 tasks: $1.5 difference.

Run the numbers with your own volumes in the agent cost calculator.

Features and limits

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite reads more in one go: 1,048,576 tokens of context (roughly 1,573 pages), versus 400,000 for GPT-5.4 nano.

Reasoning mode: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite yes, GPT-5.4 nano yes. Tool calling: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite yes, GPT-5.4 nano yes. Image input: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite yes, GPT-5.4 nano yes.

Neither publishes its weights: both are used through an API.

Knowledge cutoff: January 2025 for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite, August 31, 2025 for GPT-5.4 nano.

In short

Our reading of the data:

Choose Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite for a larger context window and a more recent release.
Choose GPT-5.4 nano for a higher capability index and a lower cost.

This verdict relies on public figures; it does not replace a trial on your own tasks.

Frequently asked questions

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or GPT-5.4 nano: which is better?

On our index (Epoch AI data), Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite scores 64.3 and GPT-5.4 nano 71.7 out of 100. The best choice also depends on price and on your use case.

Which one is cheaper?

GPT-5.4 nano. To read 20,000 tokens and write 2,000, expect $0.008 with Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite and $0.007 with GPT-5.4 nano (prices as of October 22, 2026).

Which one has the larger context window?

Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite, with 1,048,576 tokens versus 400,000.

Can I run Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or GPT-5.4 nano on my own servers?

No: both are closed models, available through an API.