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Gemini 3.8 Flash

GoogleLarge Language ModelProprietary

Google's most intelligent Flash model, released September 2026 as the current default workhorse of the Gemini line. Configurable thinking levels (low/medium/high), 1M context, and a restricted Cyber variant scoring over 70% on vulnerability detection.

Abilities

Text GenerationCode GenerationReasoningVisionFunction CallingStructured OutputLong ContextMultilingual

Use Cases

Coding AssistantChatbotData AnalysisAutomationEnterpriseResearch

Available in Tools

Google AI Studiohttps://aistudio.google.com
Google Geminihttps://gemini.google.com
Vertex AIhttps://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai

Availability

Gemini APIhttps://ai.google.dev
Google AI Studiohttps://aistudio.google.com
Vertex AI

How to Use

Use the Gemini API with model ID `gemini-3.8-flash`. Introductory pricing of $0.75/$3.75 per MTok runs through Dec 31, 2026 (then $1.50/$7.50). Set the thinking level (low/medium/high) per request to trade cost against reasoning depth.

Pros

  • Most intelligent Flash model to date — third Flash generation shipped in 2026 (3.6 in July, 3.7 in August, 3.8 in September)
  • Aggressive introductory pricing at $0.75/$3.75 per MTok through end of 2026
  • 1M token context window with configurable thinking levels
  • Dedicated Cyber variant with over 70% vulnerability-detection rate across 20 languages

Cons

  • Max output limited to 64K tokens vs 128K for Claude models
  • Rapid release cadence — three Flash generations in three months makes long-term model pinning uncertain
  • Intro pricing doubles to $1.50/$7.50 per MTok after Dec 31, 2026
  • Closed source — no self-hosting option

What to Use It For

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Perfect For

Cost-effective agentic coding

Best coding performance in the Flash tier at intro pricing well below competitors

High-volume production workloads

Flash-tier latency and pricing with near-frontier intelligence

Defensive security scanning

The Cyber variant detects over 70% of vulnerabilities across 20 programming languages

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Good For

Multimodal document processing

Native multimodal input with 1M context at Flash-tier cost

Chatbots and interactive assistants

Low latency and configurable thinking make it responsive for user-facing apps

warning

Not Recommended

Maximum reasoning depth tasks

Frontier models like Claude Opus 5 or GPT-6 Astra are stronger on the hardest problems

Try instead: Claude Opus 5, GPT-6 Astra

Very long output generation

64K max output — Claude models support up to 128K

Try instead: Claude Sonnet 5

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Do Not Use For

Image generation

Language model only — use the Gemini image models instead

Try instead: Gemini 3.1 Flash Image, Gemini 3 Nano Banana

Self-hosting

Closed source Google model — cannot run locally

Try instead: Gemma 4, Qwen 3

Technical Details

Pricing$0.75 / 1M input tokens, $3.75 / 1M output tokens (intro through Dec 31, 2026; then $1.50 / $7.50)
ParametersUndisclosed
detail.contextWindow1M tokens (64K max output)

Links

language Website description API Documentation