GOOGLE GEMINI MODEL SELECTION GUIDE · 2026
EN

Google Gemini Model Selection Guide

Gemini 3 / 2.5 family · Nano Banana image · Veo video · Lyria music · agents & robotics models — Sources: Google AI for Developers official docs Model list · Pricing · Deprecations (synced 2026-08-30)

55Models
11Categories
1MMax context
Tier
FlagshipBalancedBudget
Speed
FastestFastStandardSlowSlowest
Modality
TextImageAudioVideoCode
Reasoning
BestDeepStandardBasicFast
Price
Premium$100+ / $500+Expensive$10-100 / $50-500Costly$2-10 / $8-50Moderate$0.5-2 / $2-8Affordable$0.1-0.5 / $0.4-2Cheapest<$0.1 / <$0.4Unit: USD / 1M tokens (input / output)

Quick Picks

Direct recommendation by task type

Chat / Writinggemini-3.7-flash
Deep reasoninggemini-3.1-pro-preview
Coding / Agenticgemini-3.7-flash
Cheapestgemini-3.1-flash-lite
Image generationgemini-3-pro-image
Video generationveo-3.1-fast-generate-preview
Music generationlyria-3-pro-preview
Realtime voice chatgemini-3.1-flash-live-preview
Speech to textgemini-3.5-transcribe
Text to speechgemini-3.1-flash-tts-preview
Realtime speech translationgemini-3.5-live-translate-preview
Semantic search / RAGgemini-embedding-2
Computer usegemini-2.5-computer-use-preview-10-2025
Robotics controlgemini-robotics-er-2-preview
OSS / Edge devicesgemma-4

Naming Conventions

Understand these patterns and instantly grasp any model name

ElementMeaningExample
gemini-X.Y version number Higher number = newer and stronger gemini-2.0 → 2.5 → 3 → 3.1 → 3.7
-pro Flagship enhanced, top reasoning gemini-3.1-pro-preview, gemini-2.5-pro
-flash Speed-optimized, balanced gemini-3.7-flash, gemini-2.5-flash
-flash-lite Cheapest and fastest lite gemini-3.5-flash-lite, gemini-3.1-flash-lite
-preview Preview (production-ready; 2-week deprecation notice) gemini-3.1-pro-preview
-latest Latest alias, hot-swaps with versions gemini-flash-latest
nano-banana (🍌) Image-generation family codename gemini-3-pro-image (Pro), gemini-3.1-flash-image (2)
-image Supports image output gemini-3.1-flash-image
-live Live API realtime audio/video chat gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview
-native-audio Native audio processing (Live API) gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-12-2025
-live-translate Realtime speech translation gemini-3.5-live-translate-preview
-tts Text to speech gemini-3.1-flash-tts-preview
-transcribe Speech to text gemini-3.5-transcribe(-live)
omni- All-in-one video: generate/edit/interpolate/extend + native audio gemini-omni-1.1-flash
veo-X Video generation family veo-3.1-generate-preview
lyria-X Music generation family lyria-3-pro-preview, lyria-3-clip-preview
robotics-er Robotics embodied reasoning gemini-robotics-er-2-preview
deep-research Deep research agent deep-research-max-preview-04-2026
antigravity Hosted general agent (autonomous in sandbox) antigravity-preview-05-2026
-computer-use Computer use gemini-2.5-computer-use-preview-10-2025
gemma-X Open-source lightweight family gemma-4, gemma-3n
-001 / -exp Stable version number / experimental gemini-embedding-001, lyria-realtime-exp

Gemini 3 Frontier Models

Latest generation; all support thinking (output price includes thinking tokens) and 1M context; cached input saves up to 90%, Batch at half price; listed prices are 2026 promotional rates (roughly 2x from 2027-01-01); all support PDF input

Model IDTierPriceModalityReasoningSpeedContextInputOutputNotes
gemini-3.1-pro-previewPreview Flagship
Best Standard 1M 1M 64K Current top reasoning, agentic & complex coding, $2/$12
gemini-3.7-flashNEWRec Flagship
Deep Fast 1M 1M 64K Newest, strongest Flash (Stable), complex coding & multi-step execution, $0.75/$3.75
gemini-3.6-flash Balanced
Deep Fast 1M 1M 64K Previous Flash (Stable), enhanced search & grounding, $0.75/$3.75
gemini-3.5-flash Balanced
Standard Fast 1M 1M 64K Base Flash (Stable), high-throughput general tasks, $1.5/$9
gemini-3.5-flash-lite Budget
Basic Fastest 1M 1M 64K Fastest, cheapest 3.5 (Stable), $0.3/$2.5
gemini-3.1-flash-lite Budget
Basic Fastest 1M 1M 64K Frontier-grade at budget price (Stable), $0.25/$1.5; announced retirement 2027-05
gemini-3-flash-preview Balanced
Deep Fast 1M 1M 64K Early preview, $0.5/$3; migrating to gemini-3.6-flash recommended
gemini-3-pro-previewDeprecated Flagship
Best Standard 1M 1M 64K Gemini 3 Pro preview, shut down (2026-03-09); migrate to gemini-3.1-pro-preview
gemini-3.1-flash-lite-previewDeprecated Budget
Basic Fastest 1M 1M 64K 3.1 Lite preview, shut down (2026-05-25); migrate to gemini-3.1-flash-lite

Gemini 2.5 Workhorses

Current production workhorses (Stable), 1M context, thinking & Function Calling; all support PDF input

Model IDTierPriceModalityReasoningSpeedContextInputOutputNotes
gemini-2.5-proRec Flagship
Best Standard 1M 1M 64K Strongest of the 2.5 generation, top choice for complex tasks & coding, $1.25/$10
gemini-2.5-flashRec Balanced
Standard Fast 1M 1M 64K Best value, low latency high throughput, $0.3/$2.5
gemini-2.5-flash-lite Budget
Basic Fastest 1M 1M 64K Cheapest of the 2.5 generation, large-scale calls, $0.1/$0.4
gemini-2.5-flash-image Balanced
Standard Fast 64K 64K 32K Previous Nano Banana (🍌) image generation, $0.3 input; announced retirement 2026-10
gemini-2.5-computer-use-preview-10-2025Preview Balanced
Deep Slow 128K 128K 64K Dedicated computer use: watch screen, click/type/navigate, $1.25/$10

Audio Models (Transcribe / TTS / Live / Translate)

Speech-to-text, text-to-speech, realtime chat & realtime translation; Live series streams bidirectionally over WebSocket

Model IDTierPriceTypeInputOutputSpeedFeaturesNotes
gemini-3.5-transcribeNEWRec Flagship Speech to text
Fast Speaker diarization / word-level timestamps Low-latency transcription, $2/$12
gemini-3.5-transcribe-liveNEW Flagship Live transcription
Fastest Streaming live Realtime streaming transcription, $3.5/$21
gemini-3.1-flash-tts-previewNEW Balanced Text to speech
Fast Fine-grained audio tags control Latest TTS, $1/$20
gemini-2.5-flash-preview-ttsPreview Balanced Text to speech
Fastest Style/speed controllable Previous TTS, $0.5/$10
gemini-2.5-pro-preview-ttsPreview Flagship Text to speech
Fast High fidelity Podcast/audiobook grade, $1/$20
gemini-3.1-flash-live-previewNEW Balanced Realtime chat
Fastest Live API Realtime voice chat flagship, $0.75/$4.5
gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-12-2025Preview Balanced Realtime chat
Fastest Native audio reasoning Previous Live API model, $0.5/$2
gemini-3.5-live-translate-previewNEW Flagship Realtime translation
Fastest 70+ languages Speech-to-speech realtime translation, $3.5/$21

Image Generation (Nano Banana 🍌)

Nano Banana is the current image-generation workhorse; Imagen 4 has been merged and shut down

Model IDTierPriceInputOutputSpeedResolutionNotes
gemini-3-pro-imageRec Flagship
Standard up to 4K Nano Banana Pro: SOTA image generation & editing, complex layouts/text rendering, $2/$12
gemini-3.1-flash-image Balanced
Fast 2K Nano Banana 2: high-efficiency volume generation, $0.5/$3
gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image Budget
Fastest Standard Nano Banana 2 Lite: ultra-low latency & cost, $0.25/$1.5
gemini-2.5-flash-image Balanced
Fast Standard Previous Nano Banana (🍌), $0.3 input; announced retirement 2026-10
imagen-4.0-generate-001Deprecated Balanced
Standard 2K Shut down 2026-08-17; migrate to Nano Banana

Video Generation (Veo / Omni)

Billed by output video seconds, includes synced audio; Veo 3.1 supports up to 4K, Omni supports generate/edit/interpolate/extend

Model IDTierTypeBillingSpeedResolutionNotes
veo-3.1-generate-previewPreview Flagship Text to video $0.4-0.6/sec Slowest 1080p-4K Cinematic quality + native synced audio
veo-3.1-fast-generate-previewRec Balanced Text to video $0.1-0.3/sec Standard 1080p-4K Fast generation, best value
veo-3.1-lite-generate-previewNEW Budget Text to video $0.05-0.08/sec Fast 1080p Developer-friendly low-cost version (no 4K)
gemini-omni-1.1-flashNEW Balanced Video generate/edit/interpolate/extend $1.5/$9 (token) Standard Native audio, most complete features
veo-3.0-generate-001Deprecated Balanced Text to video $0.2-0.4/sec Slowest 1080p Shut down 2026-06-30; migrate to Veo 3.1
gemini-omni-flash-previewDeprecated Budget Video generate/edit $1.5/$9 (token) Standard Preview; retires 2026-09-30; migrate to gemini-omni-1.1-flash

Music Generation (Lyria)

Billed per generated song

Model IDTierTypeBillingDurationNotes
lyria-3-pro-previewNEWRec Flagship Full songs $0.08/song Full track Flagship music generation, complex structure integrity
lyria-3-clip-previewNEW Balanced Clips / loops $0.04/song 30 sec Clips, loops and previews
lyria-realtime-exp Balanced Realtime streaming Experimental Streaming High-fidelity realtime music generation, fine-grained creative control

Agent Models

Agent models with autonomous planning & execution; preview stage, pricing TBD by Google

Model IDTierPriceUseNotes
deep-research-max-preview-04-2026Preview Flagship Deep research Strongest automated research: retrieves & synthesizes hundreds of sources, produces interactive cited reports
deep-research-preview-04-2026Preview Balanced Deep research Autonomously plans and executes multi-step research
antigravity-preview-05-2026Preview Flagship General agent Autonomous planning/reasoning/code execution/file management/web browsing in an isolated Linux sandbox

Robotics Models (Gemini Robotics)

Embodied reasoning: understand physical space, plan multi-step tasks, multi-robot collaboration

Model IDTierPriceModalityReasoningSpeedContextInputOutputNotes
gemini-robotics-er-2-previewNEWRec Flagship
Deep Fast 128K 128K 64K Latest embodied reasoning: video understanding/spatial reasoning/multi-step tool orchestration/multi-robot collaboration, $2/$10
gemini-robotics-er-1.6-previewDeprecated Balanced
Deep Fast 128K 128K 64K Previous ER, retires 2026-08-31, migrate to ER 2, $1/$5
gemini-robotics-er-1.5-previewDeprecated Balanced
Deep Fast 128K 128K 64K Previous ER, shut down (2026-04-30); migrate to gemini-robotics-er-1.6-preview

Embedding Models

Semantic search & RAG; Embedding 2 is the first multimodal embedding model (unified vector space for text/image/audio/video/PDF)

Model IDTierPriceTypeInputSpeedFeaturesNotes
gemini-embedding-2NEWRec Flagship Multimodal embedding
Standard Text $0.2 / Image $0.45 / Audio $6.5 / Video $12 First multimodal Embedding, unified vector space
gemini-embedding-001 Balanced Embed
Standard $0.15/1M High-dim text vectors, retires 2028-05-14

Gemma Open-Source Models

Lightweight open-source models sharing Gemini's lineage, free to use, self-hostable

Model IDTierPriceModalityReasoningSpeedContextNotes
gemma-4NEWOSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fastest 128K Latest open-source flagship, same lineage as Gemini
gemma-3OSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fastest 128K Text/image understanding & reasoning
gemma-3nOSS Budget Open source & free
Basic Fastest 32K Multimodal input, optimized for mobile
gemma-2OSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fast 8K Text generation/summarization/extraction (9B/27B)
codegemmaOSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fast 8K Code generation & completion (2B/7B)
ShieldGemmaOSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fast Safety classification & content filtering
TxGemmaOSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fast Therapy prediction/drug discovery/genomics
MedGemmaOSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fast Medical imaging analysis (DICOM)
paligemmaOSS Budget Open source & free
Standard Fast Image captioning & visual QA (3B)

Gemini 2.0 (Shut Down)

All shut down 2026-06-01; migrate to the corresponding Gemini 3.x replacements; all support PDF input

Model IDTierPriceModalityReasoningSpeedContextInputOutputNotes
gemini-2.0-flashDeprecated Balanced
Standard Fast 1M 1M 8K Shut down (2026-06-01); migrate to gemini-3.6-flash
gemini-2.0-flash-liteDeprecated Budget
Basic Fastest 1M 1M 8K Shut down (2026-06-01); migrate to gemini-3.1-flash-lite

Deprecated & Shutdown Schedule

Retirement info for the models covered on this page (shutdown dates are the earliest official dates). Source: Gemini official deprecation schedule (synced 2026-08-30)

Model IDLifecycleShutdown dateReplacementMigration advice
gemini-3-pro-previewDeprecated Retired 2026-03-09 gemini-3.1-pro-preview Shut down; drop-in replacement
gemini-robotics-er-1.5-previewDeprecated Retired 2026-04-30 gemini-robotics-er-1.6-preview Shut down; drop-in replacement
gemini-3.1-flash-lite-previewDeprecated Retired 2026-05-25 gemini-3.1-flash-lite Shut down; drop-in replacement
gemini-2.0-flashDeprecated Retired 2026-06-01 gemini-3.6-flash Shut down; drop-in replacement
gemini-2.0-flash-liteDeprecated Retired 2026-06-01 gemini-3.1-flash-lite Shut down; drop-in replacement
imagen-4.0-generate-001Deprecated Retired 2026-08-17 gemini-3.1-flash-image Shut down; migrate to Nano Banana 2
veo-3.0-generate-001Deprecated Retired 2026-06-30 veo-3.1-generate-preview Shut down; drop-in replacement
gemini-robotics-er-1.6-previewDeprecated Deprecated 2026-08-31 gemini-robotics-er-2-preview Retiring soon; migrate promptly
gemini-omni-flash-previewDeprecated Deprecated 2026-09-30 gemini-omni-1.1-flash Preview; retires on schedule
gemini-2.5-flash-image Deprecated 2026-10-02 gemini-3.1-flash-image Retirement announced; plan migration
gemini-3.1-flash-lite Deprecated 2027-05-07 gemini-3.5-flash-lite Stable but announced retirement; plan migration
gemini-embedding-001 Deprecated 2028-05-14 gemini-embedding-2 Still usable (until 2028); Embedding 2 recommended for new projects

Capability Matrix

Match the best model to your needs quickly

ScenarioRecommendedAlternativesKey capability
Chat / Writing gemini-3.7-flash gemini-3.6-flash 1M context $0.75/$3.75
Complex reasoning / Math gemini-3.1-pro-preview gemini-2.5-pro Top
Agentic coding workflows gemini-3.7-flash gemini-2.5-pro + multi-step execution
Ultra-low cost gemini-3.1-flash-lite gemini-2.5-flash-lite $0.25/$1.5
Long-document processing~1M tokens gemini-2.5-pro gemini-3.7-flash 1M context
Multimodal understanding (image+audio+video) gemini-3.7-flash gemini-2.5-flash
Realtime voice chat gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview gemini-2.5-flash-native-audio-preview-12-2025 Live API two-way streaming
Speech to text gemini-3.5-transcribe gemini-3.5-transcribe-live Speaker diarization / word-level timestamps
Text to speech gemini-3.1-flash-tts-preview gemini-2.5-pro-preview-tts Fine-grained audio tags control
Realtime speech translation gemini-3.5-live-translate-preview 70+ languages
High-quality image generation gemini-3-pro-image gemini-3.1-flash-image up to 4K · Nano Banana Pro
Video generation veo-3.1-fast-generate-preview veo-3.1-generate-preview 4K + synced audio
Music creation lyria-3-pro-preview lyria-3-clip-preview $0.04-0.08/song
Semantic search / RAG gemini-embedding-2 gemini-embedding-001 Multimodal unified vector space
Computer use automation gemini-2.5-computer-use-preview-10-2025 Watch screen, perform UI actions
Robotics control gemini-robotics-er-2-preview gemini-robotics-er-1.6-preview Embodied reasoning · multi-robot collaboration
Private / edge deployment gemma-4 gemma-3n Open source & free