Model Comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash vs MAI-Thinking-1Which is better in 2026?

Gemini 3.5 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemini 3.5 Flash vs MAI-Thinking-1 — which is better?

Gemini 3.5 Flash (by Google) and MAI-Thinking-1 (by Microsoft) 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.

Gemini 3.5 Flash outperforms in 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while MAI-Thinking-1 is better at 0 benchmarks. Gemini 3.5 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks

Choose MAI-Thinking-1 if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Gemini 3.5 Flash outperforms in 2 benchmarks (SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while MAI-Thinking-1 is better at 0 benchmarks.

Gemini 3.5 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Gemini 3.5 Flash specifies input context (1,048,576 tokens). Only Gemini 3.5 Flash specifies output context (65,536 tokens).

Google
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Gemini 3.5 Flash supports multimodal inputs, whereas MAI-Thinking-1 does not.

Gemini 3.5 Flash can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemini 3.5 Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MAI-Thinking-1

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.

Gemini 3.5 Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 3.5 Flash was released on 2026-05-19, while MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02.

MAI-Thinking-1 is 0 month newer than Gemini 3.5 Flash.

Gemini 3.5 Flash

May 19, 2026

1 months ago

MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

1 months ago

2w newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 3.5 Flash has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-01-31, while MAI-Thinking-1's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemini 3.5 Flash's training data extends to 2026-01-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without MAI-Thinking-1's cutoff date.

Gemini 3.5 Flash

Jan 2026

MAI-Thinking-1

—

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Google
Larger context window (1,048,576 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher SWE-Bench Pro score (55.1% vs 52.8%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.0 score (76.2% vs 46.0%)
Microsoft

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemini 3.5 Flash and MAI-Thinking-1 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemini 3.5 Flash
✓ Preferred
MAI-Thinking-1
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 3.5 Flash vs MAI-Thinking-1.

Which is better, Gemini 3.5 Flash or MAI-Thinking-1?

Gemini 3.5 Flash significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemini 3.5 Flash is made by Google and MAI-Thinking-1 is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemini 3.5 Flash compare to MAI-Thinking-1 in benchmarks?

Gemini 3.5 Flash scores CharXiv-R: 84.2%, MCP Atlas: 83.6%, MMMU-Pro: 83.6%, OSWorld-Verified: 78.4%, Terminal-Bench 2.0: 76.2%. MAI-Thinking-1 scores LongFact: 98.0%, AIME 2025: 97.0%, AIME 2026: 94.5%, GraphWalks: 90.0%, AIR-Bench: 88.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemini 3.5 Flash and MAI-Thinking-1?

Gemini 3.5 Flash supports 1.0M tokens and MAI-Thinking-1 supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemini 3.5 Flash and MAI-Thinking-1?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemini 3.5 Flash and MAI-Thinking-1?

Gemini 3.5 Flash is developed by Google and MAI-Thinking-1 is developed by Microsoft.

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