A lean, fast, and surprisingly capable budget model best suited for high-volume text tasks where cost efficiency trumps peak quality.
65
Coding
60
Writing
62
Research
0
Images
88
Value
80
Long Context
Use this when
Cost-sensitive applications needing long-context processing with reasonable quality, such as document summarization pipelines or lightweight coding assistants.
Skip this if
You need reliable complex reasoning, multimodal inputs, or production-grade instruction-following accuracy — use Gemini 2.0 Flash or GPT-4o mini instead.
Pricing
$0.13/1M in
$0.40/1M out
→0%since Jun 2026
Context
262k tokens
Speed
Fast
As an open-weight model, Gemma 4 26B can also be self-hosted, making API pricing largely irrelevant at scale. The 'A4B' suffix denotes the active parameter count in its MoE configuration. Listed as superseding Gemini 3 Flash Preview, though Gemini 2.0 Flash remains a stronger hosted alternative.
Exceptional price-to-context ratio at $0.13/$0.40 per 1M tokens with 262K context window
MoE architecture delivers faster inference than a dense 26B model would suggest
Open-weight model allows self-hosting for zero marginal cost at scale
Solid multilingual understanding for a model in this price tier
Weaknesses
Only ~4B active parameters means complex multi-step reasoning lags behind GPT-4o mini and Claude Haiku 3.5
No native image or multimodal input support limits use cases versus Gemini Flash
Instruction-following consistency can be uneven on nuanced or structured-output tasks
Real-world use cases
What people actually use Gemma 4 26B A4B for.
Summarizing large PDF documents or legal contracts within a single 262K-token context window
Running a high-volume code explanation or docstring generation pipeline at minimal cost
Batch-processing thousands of customer support tickets for classification and routing
How Gemma 4 26B A4B compares
The nearest models people weigh against it, and what actually separates them.
vs Gemma 4 31B — Against Gemma 4 31B (Google), Gemma 4 26B A4B runs about 61% cheaper per token. Take Gemma 4 26B A4B unless you specifically need what Gemma 4 31B does better.
vs Claude 3.5 Haiku — Against Claude 3.5 Haiku (Anthropic), Gemma 4 26B A4B runs about 89% cheaper per token, takes 1.3x the context and answers slower. Which one wins depends on whether context depth or latency is your constraint.
vs GPT-5 Mini — Against GPT-5 Mini (OpenAI), Gemma 4 26B A4B runs about 76% cheaper per token, gives up 1.5x on context and answers slower. Which one wins depends on whether context depth or latency is your constraint.
Price History
Gemma 4 26B A4B pricing over time
→0% since Jun 4
90 data points · tracked daily since Jun 4, 2026
Ready to try it?
Start using Gemma 4 26B A4B
Cost-sensitive applications needing long-context processing with reasonable quality, such as document summarization pipelines or lightweight coding assistants.. Start free — no card required.
Gemma 4 31B is Google's open-weight instruction-tuned model offering a strong balance of capability and cost efficiency at just $0.14/$0.40 per million tokens. It features a 262K context window and is designed for developers who need capable on-premise or API-hosted inference without flagship pricing.
Verdict
A well-priced, long-context open-weight model that's ideal for high-volume developer workloads but won't match frontier models on complex reasoning.
Quality score
66%
Pricing
$0.39/1M in
$0.97/1M out
Speed
Fast
4/5 speed
Context
262k tokens
As an open-weight model, Gemma 4 31B can be self-hosted via Ollama or Hugging Face in addition to Google's API. Pricing shown is for hosted inference. No image input capability confirmed at launch.
Open WeightBudgetLong ContextCodingSelf-Hostable
Best for
Cost-conscious developers needing a capable open-weight model for coding assistance, summarization, and document analysis at scale.
Claude 3.5 Haiku is Anthropic's fastest and most affordable model in the Claude 3.5 family, designed for high-throughput tasks requiring quick responses without sacrificing Claude's core instruction-following quality. It handles a massive 200K context window while maintaining speed suitable for production pipelines.
Verdict
The fastest way to get Claude's quality in production — just don't confuse 'fast' with 'cheap'.
Quality score
64%
Pricing
$0.80/1M in
$4.00/1M out
Speed
Very fast
5/5 speed
Context
200k tokens
Output cost of $4/1M is notably higher than competing fast/mini models. Input cost at ~$0.80/1M is competitive. Best value emerges in input-heavy pipelines like document classification or RAG retrieval where output tokens are minimal.
High-volume, latency-sensitive applications like chatbots, classification, data extraction, and agentic tool use where speed and cost matter more than peak reasoning depth.
GPT-5 Mini is OpenAI's budget-tier distillation of GPT-5, designed for high-volume, cost-sensitive tasks that don't require full flagship reasoning depth. It supersedes GPT-4o with improved instruction following and a massively expanded 400K context window at a fraction of the cost.
Verdict
The new budget default for OpenAI API users: faster, cheaper, and smarter than GPT-4o with a context window that punches well above its price tier.
Quality score
66%
Pricing
$0.25/1M in
$2.00/1M out
Speed
Very fast
5/5 speed
Context
400k tokens
Output cost of $2/1M tokens is higher than some competing budget models (Gemini Flash at ~$0.60/1M output). At scale, output-heavy tasks may erode cost advantages — monitor token ratios carefully. Supersedes GPT-4o, which may be deprecated on a rolling basis.
BudgetFastLong ContextHigh VolumeOpenAI
Best for
High-volume production workloads — chatbots, summarization pipelines, and document Q&A — where cost efficiency matters more than peak reasoning.
Pricing moves, ranking shifts, and capability updates.
New ModelApr 4, 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B — added to UseRightAI
Gemma 4 26B A4B (Google) is now indexed. It supersedes Google: Gemini 3 Flash Preview. A lean, fast, and surprisingly capable budget model best suited for high-volume text tasks where cost efficiency trumps peak quality.
Gemma 4 26B A4B costs $0.13 per million input tokens and $0.39999999999999997 per million output tokens on the API. A month of 10M input and 2M output tokens runs about $2.10 at list price, before any batch or caching discounts.
What is Gemma 4 26B A4B best for?
Gemma 4 26B A4B is best for cost-sensitive applications needing long-context processing with reasonable quality, such as document summarization pipelines or lightweight coding assistants.. It is a strong fit when that workflow matters more than the tradeoffs around budget pricing and fast speed.
When should I avoid Gemma 4 26B A4B?
You need reliable complex reasoning, multimodal inputs, or production-grade instruction-following accuracy — use Gemini 2.0 Flash or GPT-4o mini instead.
What is a cheaper alternative to Gemma 4 26B A4B?
GPT-5.1-Codex-Max (OpenAI) at $1.25/1M/1M input against Gemma 4 26B A4B's $0.13/1M/1M. The strongest choice for serious software engineering work, provided you can absorb the output-side pricing. Compare it first if Gemma 4 26B A4B's pricing is the thing stopping you.
What is a faster alternative to Gemma 4 26B A4B?
Claude 3.5 Haiku — very fast against Gemma 4 26B A4B's fast, with 200k tokens of context. Worth the swap when response time is what your users notice rather than the last few points of reasoning depth.
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