Gemini 2.0 Pro exp 02.05 vs Gemini 3 Flash preview

Gemini 2.0 Pro exp 02.05 vs Gemini 3 Flash preview: Gemini 3 Flash preview is cheaper by 70% on average. Gemini 2.0 Pro exp 02.05 from Google Vertex AI (2,097,152-token context, tool calls) vs. Gemini 3 Flash preview from Google Vertex AI (1,048,576-token context, reasoning, tool calls). Use Agent Command Center to A/B both in shadow mode and pick the winner per workload.

Side-by-side cost

Live workload comparison

Same workload run through both models. The cheaper one is highlighted.

3,000
02,000,000
400
065,535
5,000
01,000,000
Google Vertex AI
$1,179/mo
Input $1.25/M · Output $10.00/M
Google Vertex AI
$411/mo
Input $0.500/M · Output $3.00/M
At this workload, Gemini 3 Flash preview is 65% cheaper than Gemini 2.0 Pro exp 02.05 — a savings of $769/month ($9,223/year).
Production recipe — Agent Command Center
strategy: cost-optimized
primary:
  model: gemini-3-flash-preview
  provider: vertex-ai
fallback:
  model: gemini-2-0-pro-exp-02-05
  provider: vertex-ai
shadow: { sample_rate: 0.05 }   # mirror 5% of traffic to compare quality live
Gemini 2.0 Pro exp 02.05 Gemini 3 Flash preview
Input price $1.25/M $0.500/M
Output price $10.00/M $3.00/M
Context window 2,097,152 1,048,576
Max output 8,192 65,535
Function calling
Vision
Audio input
Reasoning
Prompt caching
Structured output
Pricing verified May 7, 2026 May 12, 2026
Cheaper option
~70% cheaper than Gemini 2.0 Pro exp 02.05
Larger context
2,097,152 tokens
More capabilities
6 of 6 capability flags advertised