Head to head
GPT-6.1 Sol vs Gemini 3.8 Flash
Which is better, GPT-6.1 Sol or Gemini 3.8 Flash?
GPT-6.1 Sol finishes ahead of Gemini 3.8 Flash on the index, 90.3 to 87.9. It is the stronger of the two on Craft and Control, while Gemini 3.8 Flash still leads on Speed. Both are scored on the same rubric, in the same week, and neither placing is sponsored.
Updated
GPT-6.1 Sol
04 of 73
90.3
Near-Astra answers at a fifth of the price. The OpenAI model most teams should deploy now.
Gemini 3.8 Flash
09 of 73
87.9
Google's smartest Flash yet, eighth on the arena, and still free to start on.
The four scores, side by side
| Score | GPT-6.1 Sol | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craft | 92 | 88 | +4 |
| Speed | 82 | 90 | +8 |
| Control | 91 | 86 | +5 |
| Value | 89 | 88 | +1 |
| Index score | 90.3 | 87.9 | +2.4 |
Which to pick
Pick GPT-6.1 Sol unless Speed is what decides it for you, which is exactly where Gemini 3.8 Flash is the better answer.
GPT-6.1 Sol
GPT-6.1 Sol launched at DevDay a week after GPT-6 Sol and replaces it at the same price. OpenAI describes it as near-Astra performance at a lower cost, and the leaderboards bear that out: it scores just below Astra on the Artificial Analysis index and well above it with human voters. At two dollars in and ten out, it is priced head to head with Claude Sonnet 5.5, and it is the default choice inside the OpenAI ecosystem.
Where it shines
- Close to Astra on benchmarks for a fifth of the price
- Preferred over Astra by human voters
- Every framework and agent toolkit supports it from day one
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Gemini 3.8 Flash went generally available on 2 September and replaced the short-lived 3.7 Flash within weeks. It reads text, images, video, audio and PDFs, takes a million tokens of context, and sits eighth on the arena leaderboard, ahead of many full-price flagships. The free tier covers it, and the paid price is introductory until the end of the year, when it doubles. Its benchmark scores trail its human-preference rating, which is worth knowing before you trust it with long agent work.
Where it shines
- Eighth on the arena leaderboard at Flash prices
- Native video, audio and PDF input
- The free tier covers it, so prototyping costs nothing