Model comparison
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs o3-mini
Head-to-head evidence from 4 shared benchmark results across 2 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite unranked (Not scored); o3-mini #136 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and o3-mini share 4 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 17 results are unique to Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite; 6 to o3-mini.
Updated July 21, 2026- Shared results
- 4
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite only
- 17
- o3-mini only
- 6
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Treat this as a split decision. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite makes more sense if coding is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill; o3-mini is the better fit if its strengths line up with your actual workload.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 4 shared benchmark results across 2 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 o3-mini 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.
o3-mini is also the more expensive model on tokens at $1.10 input / $4.40 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.30 input / $2.50 output per 1M tokens for Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 200K for o3-mini.
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 | o3-mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite54.2 | Margin← 4.9 | o3-mini49.3 |
| Agentic | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite63.4 | MarginNo overlap | o3-miniNot measured |
| Reasoning | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite72.2 | MarginNo overlap | o3-miniNot measured |
| Knowledge | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | o3-mini77.2 |
| Inst. Following | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot measured | MarginNo overlap | o3-mini93.9 |
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | o3-mini | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$0.3 input / $2.5 output | o3-mini$1.1 input / $4.4 output | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot available | o3-mini160 tok/s | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteNot available | o3-mini7.12 s | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite1M | o3-mini200K | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 54% | — | Not comparable |
| 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 |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | — | 28.7% | Not comparable |
CodingGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite wins5 benchmarks
Reasoning3 benchmarks
Knowledge8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 36.5% | 19.0% | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 83.8% | 74.8% | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads |
| AA-HLESource | 17.5% | 8.7% | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 6.9% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 30.3% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 33.5% | — | Not comparable |
| MMLUSource | — | 86.9% | Not comparable |
| GPQASource | — | 77.2% | Not comparable |
Math1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME 2024Source | — | 87.3% | Not comparable |
Multimodal1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-MMMU-ProSource | 79.0% | — | Not comparable |
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFEvalSource | — | 93.9% | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or o3-mini?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and o3-mini 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 o3-mini?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 54.2 versus 49.3. Inside this category, AA-SciCode is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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