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Model comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs GPT-4.1

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 10 shared benchmark results across 4 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

No comparison
OpenAI
51.11/100
0 category wins1 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite unranked (Not scored); GPT-4.1 #108 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and GPT-4.1 share 10 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 11 results are unique to Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite; 10 to GPT-4.1.

Updated July 21, 2026
Shared results
10
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite only
11
GPT-4.1 only
10
Comparable categories
1 / 8

Treat this as a split decision. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite makes more sense if you want the cheaper token bill or you want the stronger reasoning-first profile; GPT-4.1 is the better fit if coding is the priority or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 10 shared benchmark results across 4 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and GPT-4.1 finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.

GPT-4.1 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.00 input / $8.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.30 input / $2.50 output per 1M tokens for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite. That is roughly 3.2x on output cost alone. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is the reasoning model in the pair, while GPT-4.1 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use.

Category breakdown

Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.

Category scores and score margins for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and GPT-4.1
CategoryGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteΔGPT-4.1
CodingGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite54.2Margin 0.4GPT-4.154.6
AgenticGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite63.4MarginNo overlapGPT-4.1Not measured
ReasoningGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite72.2MarginNo overlapGPT-4.1Not measured
KnowledgeGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measuredMarginNo overlapGPT-4.166.3
MathGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measuredMarginNo overlapGPT-4.14.1
Inst. FollowingGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measuredMarginNo overlapGPT-4.187.4

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$0.3 input / $2.5 outputGPT-4.1$2 input / $8 outputGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot availableGPT-4.1108 tok/sA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot availableGPT-4.11.02 sA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite1MGPT-4.11MListed context windows are equal.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Result
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 54%Not comparable
OSWorld-VerifiedSource 74%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 1140Not comparable
AA Agentic IndexSource 26.8%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 32.0%Not comparable
AA BriefcaseSource 634Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource 16.5%Not comparable
τ²-bench resultsSource 47.1%Not comparable
Gert LabsSource 25.65%Not comparable
CodingGPT-4.1 wins
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Result
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 54.0%Not comparable
SWE-bench ProSource 54.2%Not comparable
AA Coding IndexSource 49.3%Not comparable
AA-SciCodeSource 40.9%38.1%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
SWE-bench VerifiedSource 54.6%Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Result
MRCRv2Source 72.2%Not comparable
AA-LCRSource 62.0%61.0%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
CritPtSource 0.0%0.0%Tie
Knowledge
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 36.5%19.4%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 83.8%66.6%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
AA-HLESource 17.5%4.6%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource 6.9%-36.2%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 30.3%24.2%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 33.5%79.6%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
MMLUSource 90.2%Not comparable
GPQASource 66.3%Not comparable
Math
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Result
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source 5.517%Not comparable
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)Source 0.000%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Result
AA-MMMU-ProSource 79.0%61.2%Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads
Design Arena WebsiteSource 1068Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGPT-4.1Result
IFEvalSource 87.4%Not comparable
AA-IFBenchSource 43.0%Not comparable
Frequently Asked Questions (2)

Which is better, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or GPT-4.1?

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and GPT-4.1 are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.

Which is better for coding, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or GPT-4.1?

GPT-4.1 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 54.6 versus 54.2. Inside this category, AA-SciCode is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

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Last updated: July 21, 2026

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