Model Comparison

Claude Opus 4.6 vs Gemini 3 FlashWhich is better in 2026?

Claude Opus 4.6 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Gemini 3 Flash is 8.9x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Claude Opus 4.6 vs Gemini 3 Flash — which is better?

Claude Opus 4.6 (by Anthropic) and Gemini 3 Flash (by Google) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Claude Opus 4.6 outperforms in 10 benchmarks (AIME 2025, ARC-AGI v2, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, Legal Agent Benchmark, LiveBench, MCP Atlas, MRCR v2 (8-needle), SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while Gemini 3 Flash is better at 3 benchmarks (CharXiv-R, MMMLU, MMMU-Pro). Claude Opus 4.6 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

On price, Gemini 3 Flash is roughly 8.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Choose Claude Opus 4.6 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 10 of 14 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2026

Choose Gemini 3 Flash if…

  • cost matters — it's about 8.9x cheaper per token

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

14 benchmarks

Claude Opus 4.6 outperforms in 10 benchmarks (AIME 2025, ARC-AGI v2, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, Legal Agent Benchmark, LiveBench, MCP Atlas, MRCR v2 (8-needle), SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while Gemini 3 Flash is better at 3 benchmarks (CharXiv-R, MMMLU, MMMU-Pro).

Claude Opus 4.6 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Gemini 3 Flash costs less

For input processing, Claude Opus 4.6 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 10.0x more expensive than Gemini 3 Flash ($0.50/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude Opus 4.6 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 8.3x more expensive than Gemini 3 Flash ($3.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.6 is more expensive than Gemini 3 Flash.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.6
Input tokens$5.00
Output tokens$25.00
Best providerAnthropic
Google
Gemini 3 Flash
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$3.00
Best providerGoogle
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Both models have the same input context window of 1,000,000 tokens. Claude Opus 4.6 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Gemini 3 Flash is limited to 65,536 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.6
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Google
Gemini 3 Flash
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude Opus 4.6 and Gemini 3 Flash support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Claude Opus 4.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Gemini 3 Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Claude Opus 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

Gemini 3 Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude Opus 4.6 was released on 2026-02-05, while Gemini 3 Flash was released on 2025-12-17.

Claude Opus 4.6 is 2 months newer than Gemini 3 Flash.

Claude Opus 4.6

Feb 5, 2026

5 months ago

1mo newer
Gemini 3 Flash

Dec 17, 2025

7 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 3 Flash has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-31, while Claude Opus 4.6's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemini 3 Flash's training data extends to 2025-01-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude Opus 4.6's cutoff date.

Claude Opus 4.6

—

Gemini 3 Flash

Jan 2025

Provider Availability

Claude Opus 4.6 is available from Anthropic. Gemini 3 Flash is available from Google.

Claude Opus 4.6

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $5.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $25.00/1M

Gemini 3 Flash

google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Higher AIME 2025 score (99.8% vs 99.7%)
Higher ARC-AGI v2 score (68.8% vs 33.6%)
Higher GPQA score (91.3% vs 90.4%)
Higher Humanity's Last Exam score (53.1% vs 43.5%)
Higher Legal Agent Benchmark score (4.2% vs 0.0%)
Higher LiveBench score (76.3% vs 72.4%)
Higher MCP Atlas score (62.7% vs 57.4%)
Higher MRCR v2 (8-needle) score (76.0% vs 22.1%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (80.8% vs 78.0%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.0 score (65.4% vs 47.6%)
Google
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher CharXiv-R score (80.3% vs 77.4%)
Higher MMMLU score (91.8% vs 91.1%)
Higher MMMU-Pro score (81.2% vs 77.3%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 4.6 and Gemini 3 Flash side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Claude Opus 4.6
✓ Preferred
Gemini 3 Flash
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude Opus 4.6
Google
Gemini 3 Flash

FAQ

Common questions about Claude Opus 4.6 vs Gemini 3 Flash.

Which is better, Claude Opus 4.6 or Gemini 3 Flash?

Claude Opus 4.6 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Claude Opus 4.6 is made by Anthropic and Gemini 3 Flash is made by Google. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude Opus 4.6 compare to Gemini 3 Flash in benchmarks?

Claude Opus 4.6 scores Vending-Bench 2: 100.0%, AIME 2025: 99.8%, Tau2 Telecom: 99.3%, Graphwalks parents >128k: 95.4%, Tau2 Retail: 91.9%. Gemini 3 Flash scores Vending-Bench 2: 100.0%, AIME 2025: 99.7%, Global PIQA: 92.8%, MMMLU: 91.8%, GPQA: 90.4%.

Is Claude Opus 4.6 cheaper than Gemini 3 Flash?

Gemini 3 Flash is 10.0x cheaper for input tokens. Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.00/M input and $25.00/M output via anthropic. Gemini 3 Flash costs $0.50/M input and $3.00/M output via google.

What are the context window sizes for Claude Opus 4.6 and Gemini 3 Flash?

Claude Opus 4.6 supports 1.0M tokens and Gemini 3 Flash supports 1.0M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude Opus 4.6 and Gemini 3 Flash?

Key differences include input pricing ($5.00 vs $0.50/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude Opus 4.6 and Gemini 3 Flash?

Claude Opus 4.6 is developed by Anthropic and Gemini 3 Flash is developed by Google.

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