Anthropic vs Google Gemini API
A comparison of Anthropic and Google Gemini API built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick Anthropic if
- Teams that want the full 1M-token window at the standard per-token rate rather than a long-context surcharge, and that can use caching and batch to cut a frontier-model bill roughly in half.
- Pick Google Gemini API if
- Getting to a working prototype without a card, then staying on the cheapest frontier-adjacent rates in this set — $0.75 per million input tokens is well under half what Anthropic and OpenAI charge for their top models.
7 sourced criteria separate them:
- Pricing model
- Anthropic: Per million tokens, priced separately for input and output and per model, with multipliers stacked on top: prompt caching, a 50% batch discount, a 1.1x uplift for US-only inference on Claude 4.6 and later, and a fast-mode premium.
- Google Gemini API: Per million tokens, with dated price changes published in advance — the current Gemini 3.x rates are explicitly promotional through 31 December 2026 and roughly double on 1 January 2027. A free tier exists, and its content is used to improve Google's products where the paid tier's is not.
- Input price, top model
- Anthropic: $10 per million input tokens for Claude Fable 5.1, the most capable model. Claude Opus 5 is $5 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $2.
- Google Gemini API: $0.75 per million input tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash through 31 December 2026, then $1.50. Gemini 3.1 Pro, still preview, is $2.00 for prompts up to 200k tokens and $4.00 above.
- Output price, top model
- Anthropic: $50 per million output tokens for Claude Fable 5.1. Claude Opus 5 is $25 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $10.
- Google Gemini API: $3.75 per million output tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash through 31 December 2026, then $7.50. Thinking tokens are billed as output.
- Input price, cheapest model
- Anthropic: $1 per million input tokens for Claude Haiku 4.5, the cheapest current model, with output at $5.
- Google Gemini API: $0.30 per million input tokens for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, with output at $2.50.
- Context window
- Anthropic: 1M tokens on Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Sonnet 5; 200K on Claude Haiku 4.5. Anthropic states the full 1M window is billed at standard per-token rates.
- Google Gemini API: 1,048,576 tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash. Read from the Vertex AI model card: the Gemini API docs build their model cards client-side and publish no figure a fetch can read.
- Max output tokens
- Anthropic: 128K tokens on the top three models, 64K on Claude Haiku 4.5. The Batch API supports up to 300K output tokens on several models behind a beta header.
- Google Gemini API: 65,536 tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash, and Google counts thinking tokens as output.
- Batch discount
- Anthropic: 50% off both input and output tokens through the Batch API, for asynchronous processing.
- Google Gemini API: 50% off through the Batch API, which is a paid-tier feature.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Anthropic 0
Google Gemini API 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Anthropic | Google Gemini API |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Per million tokens, priced separately for input and output and per model, with multipliers stacked on top: prompt caching, a 50% batch discount, a 1.1x uplift for US-only inference on Claude 4.6 and later, and a fast-mode premium. | Per million tokens, with dated price changes published in advance — the current Gemini 3.x rates are explicitly promotional through 31 December 2026 and roughly double on 1 January 2027. A free tier exists, and its content is used to improve Google's products where the paid tier's is not. |
| Inference | ||
| Input price, top model | $10 per million input tokens for Claude Fable 5.1, the most capable model. Claude Opus 5 is $5 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $2. | $0.75 per million input tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash through 31 December 2026, then $1.50. Gemini 3.1 Pro, still preview, is $2.00 for prompts up to 200k tokens and $4.00 above. |
| Output price, top model | $50 per million output tokens for Claude Fable 5.1. Claude Opus 5 is $25 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $10. | $3.75 per million output tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash through 31 December 2026, then $7.50. Thinking tokens are billed as output. |
| Input price, cheapest model | $1 per million input tokens for Claude Haiku 4.5, the cheapest current model, with output at $5. | $0.30 per million input tokens for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, with output at $2.50. |
| Context window | 1M tokens on Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Sonnet 5; 200K on Claude Haiku 4.5. Anthropic states the full 1M window is billed at standard per-token rates. | 1,048,576 tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash. Read from the Vertex AI model card: the Gemini API docs build their model cards client-side and publish no figure a fetch can read. |
| Max output tokens | 128K tokens on the top three models, 64K on Claude Haiku 4.5. The Batch API supports up to 300K output tokens on several models behind a beta header. | 65,536 tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash, and Google counts thinking tokens as output. |
| Prompt caching | Supported | Supported |
| Batch discount | 50% off both input and output tokens through the Batch API, for asynchronous processing. | 50% off through the Batch API, which is a paid-tier feature. |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- Anthropic
- Per million tokens, priced separately for input and output and per model, with multipliers stacked on top: prompt caching, a 50% batch discount, a 1.1x uplift for US-only inference on Claude 4.6 and later, and a fast-mode premium.
- Google Gemini API
- Per million tokens, with dated price changes published in advance — the current Gemini 3.x rates are explicitly promotional through 31 December 2026 and roughly double on 1 January 2027. A free tier exists, and its content is used to improve Google's products where the paid tier's is not.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“This page provides detailed pricing information for Anthropic's models and features. All prices are in USD. [...] These multipliers stack with other pricing modifiers, including the Batch API discount and data residency. [...] specifying US-only inference through the inference_geo parameter incurs a 1.1x multiplier on all token pricing categories”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Gemini Developer API Pricing ↗
“Paid Tier, per 1M tokens in USD [...] $0.75 through December 31, 2026. $1.50 starting January 1, 2027. [...] Used to improve our products | Yes | No”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, top model
- Anthropic
- $10 per million input tokens for Claude Fable 5.1, the most capable model. Claude Opus 5 is $5 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $2.
- Google Gemini API
- $0.75 per million input tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash through 31 December 2026, then $1.50. Gemini 3.1 Pro, still preview, is $2.00 for prompts up to 200k tokens and $4.00 above.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“Claude Fable 5.1 | $10 / MTok | $12.50 / MTok | $20 / MTok | $0.25 / MTok | $50 / MTok [...] Claude Opus 5 | $5 / MTok [...] Claude Sonnet 5 | $2 / MTok”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Gemini Developer API Pricing ↗
“Gemini 3.8 Flash [...] Input price | Free of charge | $0.75 through December 31, 2026. $1.50 starting January 1, 2027. [...] Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview [...] Input price | Not available | $2.00, prompts <= 200k tokens $4.00, prompts > 200k tokens”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Output price, top model
- Anthropic
- $50 per million output tokens for Claude Fable 5.1. Claude Opus 5 is $25 and Claude Sonnet 5 is $10.
- Google Gemini API
- $3.75 per million output tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash through 31 December 2026, then $7.50. Thinking tokens are billed as output.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“Claude Fable 5.1 | $10 / MTok | [...] | $50 / MTok [...] Claude Opus 5 | [...] $25 / MTok [...] Claude Sonnet 5 | [...] $10 / MTok”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Gemini Developer API Pricing ↗
“Output price (including thinking tokens) | Free of charge | $3.75 through December 31, 2026. $7.50 starting January 1, 2027.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Input price, cheapest model
- Anthropic
- $1 per million input tokens for Claude Haiku 4.5, the cheapest current model, with output at $5.
- Google Gemini API
- $0.30 per million input tokens for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, with output at $2.50.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“Claude Haiku 4.5 | $1 / MTok | $1.25 / MTok | $2 / MTok | $0.10 / MTok | $5 / MTok”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Gemini Developer API Pricing ↗
“Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite [...] Input price | Free of charge | $0.30 (text / image / video / audio) Output price (including thinking tokens) | Free of charge | $2.50”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Context window
1M tokens on Claude Fable 5.1, Claude Opus 5 and Claude Sonnet 5; 200K on Claude Haiku 4.5. Anthropic states the full 1M window is billed at standard per-token rates.
1,048,576 tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash. Read from the Vertex AI model card: the Gemini API docs build their model cards client-side and publish no figure a fetch can read.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models overview — Claude Docs ↗
“Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens | 1M tokens | 200K tokens”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- Gemini 3.8 Flash — Vertex AI model card, Google Cloud ↗
“Token limits Context window 1,048,576 Maximum output tokens 65,536”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
Max output tokens
128K tokens on the top three models, 64K on Claude Haiku 4.5. The Batch API supports up to 300K output tokens on several models behind a beta header.
65,536 tokens for Gemini 3.8 Flash, and Google counts thinking tokens as output.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models overview — Claude Docs ↗
“Max output | 128K tokens | 128K tokens | 128K tokens | 64K tokens [...] On the Message Batches API, Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5 [...] support up to 300k output tokens with the output-300k-2026-03-24 beta header.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- Gemini 3.8 Flash — Vertex AI model card, Google Cloud ↗
“Token limits Context window 1,048,576 Maximum output tokens 65,536”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
Batch discount
- Anthropic
- 50% off both input and output tokens through the Batch API, for asynchronous processing.
- Google Gemini API
- 50% off through the Batch API, which is a paid-tier feature.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Pricing — Claude Docs ↗
“The Batch API allows asynchronous processing of large volumes of requests with a 50% discount on both input and output tokens.”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Gemini Developer API Pricing ↗
“Batch API (50% cost reduction) [...] Access to Context caching”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
Which should you choose?
Choose Anthropic if…
Teams that want the full 1M-token window at the standard per-token rate rather than a long-context surcharge, and that can use caching and batch to cut a frontier-model bill roughly in half.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Google Gemini API if…
Getting to a working prototype without a card, then staying on the cheapest frontier-adjacent rates in this set — $0.75 per million input tokens is well under half what Anthropic and OpenAI charge for their top models.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Anthropic: Its cheapest model is $1 per million input tokens, several times what the budget tiers at Google, OpenAI and DeepSeek charge, so high-volume simple work is priced against you.
- Google Gemini API: The rates are dated: they roughly double on 1 January 2027, free-tier content is used to improve Google's products, and rate limits are not published anywhere you can read before signing up.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Should I choose Anthropic or Google Gemini API?
Pick Anthropic if Teams that want the full 1M-token window at the standard per-token rate rather than a long-context surcharge, and that can use caching and batch to cut a frontier-model bill roughly in half.
Pick Google Gemini API if Getting to a working prototype without a card, then staying on the cheapest frontier-adjacent rates in this set — $0.75 per million input tokens is well under half what Anthropic and OpenAI charge for their top models.