Gemini 4 Carbon API pricing
Official Google list price, last checked Nov 14, 2026. Updated Nov 14, 2026.
Gemini 4 Carbon costs $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens, cached input at $0.10, and a 1M-token context window, per Google's official pricing page (checked Nov 14, 2026). It's a premium-priced model: number 68 of 84 by blended price ($4 per 1M tokens at a 3 to 1 input to output mix). On LMArena's Code Arena it ranks #4 of 53 models we price (relative score 75 out of 100). Nothing cheaper scores close to it on that board; GPT-6.1 Terra is the nearest cheaper option.
Gemini 4 Carbon price per million tokens
| Gemini 4 Carbon price per million tokens | USD |
|---|---|
| Input | $2 |
| Cached input | $0.10 |
| Output | $10 |
| Blended, 3 parts input to 1 part output | $4 |
| Context window | 1M tokens |
| From Dec 1 | $4 in, $20 out |
Official note from Google: 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.
What Gemini 4 Carbon costs for real work
List-price estimates for a month, no discounts. Our math, not a quote: change the token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
| Workload | Tokens a month | Gemini 4 Carbon | GPT-6.1 Sol | GPT-6.1 Terra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light: a side project or personal assistant | 2M in, 0.5M out | $9.00 | $9.00 | $4.50 |
| Medium: a small team or one product feature | 20M in, 5M out | $90.00 | $90.00 | $45.00 |
| Heavy: a production app | 200M in, 50M out | $900 | $900 | $450 |
| Medium with 80% of input cached | 20M in (16M cached), 5M out | $59.60 | $59.60 | $29.80 |
How Gemini 4 Carbon ranks on LMArena
Relative score: 100 is the top model we price on that board. Rank is among the models in our price table, not the full leaderboard.
| Board | Rank | Score /100 |
|---|---|---|
| Coding (Code Arena) | #4 of 53 | 75 |
| Chat (Text Arena) | #1 of 54 | 100 |
| Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing) | #3 of 54 | 92 |
| Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn) | #1 of 54 | 100 |
| Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena) | #3 of 40 | 65 |
Closest rivals to Gemini 4 Carbon
The models nearest in price, other makers first. Ranks are on Code Arena, where we have them.
| Model | In / out | Blended | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Sol | $2 / $10 | $4 | Gemini 4 Carbon wins: same price, higher score. Compare |
| GPT-6 Sol | $2 / $10 | $4 | Gemini 4 Carbon wins: same price, higher score. Compare |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $2 / $10 | $4 | Claude Sonnet 5.5 wins: same price, higher score. Compare |
| Kimi K3.1 Pro | $2 / $10 | $4 | Gemini 4 Carbon wins: same price, higher score. Compare |
Cheaper alternatives to Gemini 4 Carbon
At least 40% cheaper blended, best LMArena score first.
| Model | In / out | Blended | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Terra | $1 / $5 | $2 | GPT-6.1 Terra for price, Gemini 4 Carbon for quality. Compare |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | $0.30 / $1.20 | $0.525 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for price, Gemini 4 Carbon for quality. Compare |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | $1.25 / $4.25 | $2 | Muse Spark 1.3 for price, Gemini 4 Carbon for quality. Compare |
More from Google
- Gemini 4 Argon$2 in, $10 out per 1M
- Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview$2 in, $12 out per 1M
- Gemini 4 Hydrogen$1.50 in, $7.50 out per 1M
- Gemini 3.8 Flash$0.75 in, $3.75 out per 1M
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite$0.30 in, $2.50 out per 1M
FAQ
How much does the Gemini 4 Carbon API cost per million tokens?
$2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens, plus $0.10 per 1M for cached input, as of Nov 14, 2026. A typical 3 to 1 input to output mix works out to $4 per 1M tokens.
Does Gemini 4 Carbon charge more for long prompts?
Yes. From Dec 1: $4 in, $20 out.
Is Gemini 4 Carbon cheaper than GPT-6.1 Sol?
About the same. A medium month (20M input and 5M output tokens) costs $90.00 on Gemini 4 Carbon and $90.00 on GPT-6.1 Sol at list price. On Code Arena, Gemini 4 Carbon ranks #4 and GPT-6.1 Sol #6.
How does Gemini 4 Carbon rank on LMArena?
On Code Arena it is #4 of 53 models we price, with a relative score of 75 out of 100. It ranks on 5 of 8 boards we track.
What is a cheaper alternative to Gemini 4 Carbon?
GPT-6.1 Terra costs $1 in and $5 out per 1M tokens, about 2.0x less blended, and scores 43 on Code Arena against 75 for Gemini 4 Carbon.
Where does this Gemini 4 Carbon price come from?
From Google's official pricing page, which we check every day. This page was last checked Nov 14, 2026.