Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs Grok 4.5: Specs & Benchmark Comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is developed by Google, while Grok 4.5 comes from xAI. Both were released in July 2026.

The two models share 2 published benchmarks. Grok 4.5 leads on 2 of them. The widest gaps are on Terminal-Bench 2.1, where Grok 4.5 scores 83.0% against 54.0%; SWE-Bench Pro, where Grok 4.5 scores 65.0% against 54.2%. Averaged across everything we track, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite sits at 53.2% and Grok 4.5 at 52.9%.

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is the cheaper API at $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens, roughly 7 times cheaper than Grok 4.5 at $2 and $6. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite takes the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared with 500K for Grok 4.5. Both accept text and images as input.

CharacteristicGemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGrok 4.5
CompanyGooglexAI
Release DateJuly 21, 2026July 16, 2026
Parameters
MultimodalYesYes
Context (input)1.0M500K
Context (output)66K
Input Price / 1M$0.30$2.00
Output Price / 1M$2.50$6.00
Average Score53.2%52.9%
Benchmarks
Terminal-Bench 2.154.0%83.0%
SWE-Bench Pro54.2%65.0%

Visual Benchmark Comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite
Grok 4.5
Terminal-Bench 2.10.5 vs 0.8
0.5
0.8
SWE-Bench Pro0.5 vs 0.7
0.5
0.7

Verdict

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite leads in 2 out of 4 comparison categories.

Overall Performance

Both models show comparable average scores: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite — 0.5, Grok 4.5 — 0.5.

API Cost

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is 2.9x cheaper: input $0.30/1M vs $2.00/1M tokens.

Context Window

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite supports a larger context: 1M vs 500K tokens.

Recency

Both models were released around the same time: 7/21/2026 and 7/16/2026.

More About These Models

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for coding — Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Grok 4.5?
Direct comparison on the SWE-Bench benchmark is not available. We recommend reviewing other metrics on the comparison page.
Which model is cheaper — Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Grok 4.5?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is cheaper for input: $0.30 per 1M tokens vs $2.00.
Which has a larger context window — Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Grok 4.5?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite supports a larger context: 1,048,576 tokens vs 500,000.

The Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and Grok 4.5 comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite or Grok 4.5 page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.