Model comparison
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs MAI-Thinking-1
Head-to-head evidence from 3 shared benchmark results across 2 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Evidence parity. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and MAI-Thinking-1 share 3 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 18 results are unique to Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite; 10 to MAI-Thinking-1.
Updated July 21, 2026- Shared results
- 3
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite only
- 18
- MAI-Thinking-1 only
- 10
- Comparable categories
- 2 / 8
Treat this as a split decision. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite makes more sense if agentic is the priority or you need the larger 1M context window; MAI-Thinking-1 is the better fit if coding is the priority.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 3 shared benchmark results across 2 evidence categories; 2 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 MAI-Thinking-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.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for MAI-Thinking-1.
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 | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | Δ | MAI-Thinking-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agentic | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite63.4 | Margin← 17.4 | MAI-Thinking-146.0 |
| Coding | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite54.2 | Margin→ 11.3 | MAI-Thinking-165.5 |
| Reasoning | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite72.2 | MarginNo overlap | MAI-Thinking-1Not measured |
| Knowledge | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | MAI-Thinking-172.5 |
| Math | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | MAI-Thinking-189.7 |
| Inst. Following | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | MAI-Thinking-185.0 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
Terminal-Bench 2.0
AgenticA 54%B 46%Winner: Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteΔ 8Terminal-Bench 2.0: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite scored 54%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 46%. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SWE-bench Pro
CodingA 54.2%B 52.8%Winner: Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteΔ 1.4SWE-bench Pro: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite scored 54.2%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 52.8%. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | MAI-Thinking-1 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$0.3 input / $2.5 output | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot available | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot available | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite1M | MAI-Thinking-1256K | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
AgenticGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite wins7 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 54% | 46% | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | 74% | — | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | 1140 | — | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | 26.8% | — | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | 32.0% | — | Not comparable |
| AA BriefcaseSource | 634 | — | Not comparable |
| AA Tau3 BankingSource | 16.5% | — | Not comparable |
CodingMAI-Thinking-1 wins5 benchmarks
Reasoning4 benchmarks
Knowledge10 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 36.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 83.8% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-HLESource | 17.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 6.9% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 30.3% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 33.5% | — | Not comparable |
| GPQASource | — | 84.2% | Not comparable |
| GPQA-DSource | — | 84.2% | Not comparable |
| MMLU-ProSource | — | 85% | Not comparable |
| SimpleQASource | — | 31% | Not comparable |
Math3 benchmarks
Multimodal1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-MMMU-ProSource | 79.0% | — | Not comparable |
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBenchSource | — | 85% | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (3)
Which is better, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or MAI-Thinking-1?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and MAI-Thinking-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 MAI-Thinking-1?
MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 65.5 versus 54.2. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for agentic tasks, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or MAI-Thinking-1?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 63.4 versus 46. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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