Gemini 4 Hydrogen vs Gemini 4 Carbon
Official Google API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-11-14. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
Gemini 4 Hydrogen costs less; Gemini 4 Carbon wins more LMArena tasks.
Gemini 4 Hydrogen is 1.3x cheaper on input and output. Gemini 4 Carbon scores 100 points higher for roleplay. Across 4 shared LMArena tasks, Gemini 4 Carbon leads 4 to 0. A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $67.50 on Gemini 4 Hydrogen and $90 on Gemini 4 Carbon.
- Pick Gemini 4 Hydrogen if you want the lower bill ($67.50 vs $90 for a medium month) or you reuse long prompts (cached input $0.075 vs $0.10).
- Pick Gemini 4 Carbon if you care most about roleplay (+100), chat (+65) and creative writing (+32).
Medium: 20M input + 5M output tokens a month at list price (short-context rate, no caching or batch discounts).
Marked side is better: lower for prices, higher for context and scores. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two.
| Spec | Gemini 4 Hydrogen | Gemini 4 Carbon |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $1.50 | $2 |
| Cached input | $0.075 | $0.10 |
| Output | $7.50 | $10 |
| Blend 3:1 | $3 | $4 |
| Sample month, medium | $67.50 | $90 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 53/100 #8 of 53 | 75/100 #4 of 53 |
| Chat | 35/100 #8 of 54 | 100/100 #1 of 54 |
| Creative writing | 60/100 #4 of 54 | 92/100 #3 of 54 |
| Roleplay and characters | 0/100 #19 of 54 | 100/100 #1 of 54 |
| Reasoning and math | 36/100 #13 of 52 | Not ranked |
| Vision | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | Not ranked | 65/100 #3 of 40 |
| Details | ||
| Provider | ||
| API model id | gemini-4-hydrogen | gemini-4-carbon |
| Notes | Flat price across the 1M window. Implicit caching only (explicit caching is not supported). No intro promo. Free tier is free of charge and rate-limited. | Launch price through Nov 30, 2026. From Dec 1: $4 in, $20 out. Implicit caching only. Not on the Free tier. Public API from Nov 10, 2026. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-14 |
| Official pricing | Google pricing | Google pricing |
Plans from data checked hourly against each vendor's official pricing page. Vendors state limits in different units, so we quote them as published. Team and enterprise plans are per seat.
API prices in USD per 1M tokens from each provider's official pricing page. Blend 3:1 = (3 x input + output) / 4. Sample month = stated input and output tokens at the list price, no caching. Quality: relative score out of 100 on each LMArena leaderboard (100 = top model we price on that board, n/a = not ranked there), data licensed CC BY 4.0. See how we pick.
Where each one ranks on LMArena
Relative score out of 100 on each leaderboard (100 = the top model we price there), with the rank among the models from our API price table that appear on that board.
- Coding (Code Arena): Gemini 4 Hydrogen #8 of 53 (53/100), Gemini 4 Carbon #4 of 53 (75/100)
- Chat (Text Arena): Gemini 4 Hydrogen #8 of 54 (35/100), Gemini 4 Carbon #1 of 54 (100/100)
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): Gemini 4 Hydrogen #4 of 54 (60/100), Gemini 4 Carbon #3 of 54 (92/100)
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): Gemini 4 Hydrogen #19 of 54 (0/100), Gemini 4 Carbon #1 of 54 (100/100)
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): Gemini 4 Hydrogen #13 of 52 (36/100), Gemini 4 Carbon not ranked
- Vision (Vision Arena): Gemini 4 Hydrogen not ranked, Gemini 4 Carbon not ranked
- Long documents (Document Arena): Gemini 4 Hydrogen not ranked, Gemini 4 Carbon not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): Gemini 4 Hydrogen not ranked, Gemini 4 Carbon #3 of 40 (65/100)
Pricing details from the official pages
Gemini 4 Hydrogen lists $1.50 input, $7.50 output, $0.075 cached input per 1M tokens on Google pricing. Gemini 4 Carbon lists $2 input, $10 output, $0.10 cached input per 1M tokens on Google pricing. Prices checked 2026-11-14.
- Gemini 4 Hydrogen: Flat price across the 1M window. Implicit caching only (explicit caching is not supported). No intro promo. Free tier is free of charge and rate-limited.
- Gemini 4 Carbon: Launch price through Nov 30, 2026. From Dec 1: $4 in, $20 out. Implicit caching only. Not on the Free tier. Public API from Nov 10, 2026.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $6.75 vs $9. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $67.50 vs $90. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $675 vs $900.
FAQ
Is Gemini 4 Hydrogen cheaper than Gemini 4 Carbon?
Gemini 4 Hydrogen costs $1.50 input and $7.50 output per 1M tokens; Gemini 4 Carbon costs $2 and $10. For a medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) Gemini 4 Hydrogen is cheaper: $67.50 vs $90.
Which is better for coding, Gemini 4 Hydrogen or Gemini 4 Carbon?
On LMArena's Code Arena Gemini 4 Hydrogen scores 53/100 (#8 of 53) and Gemini 4 Carbon 75/100 (#4 of 53), so Gemini 4 Carbon is ahead by 22 points.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 4 Hydrogen: 1M tokens. Gemini 4 Carbon: 1M tokens. Both list the same window.
How much do Gemini 4 Hydrogen and Gemini 4 Carbon cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $6.75 vs $9. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $67.50 vs $90. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $675 vs $900. Pick your own token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
Where do these numbers come from?
Prices come from each provider's official pricing page, checked daily. Quality is the relative score on the LMArena leaderboard dataset, licensed CC BY 4.0. Where a model is not ranked we show n/a.
Sources
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