Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite vs o4-mini
Wins 1 of 7 areas
Facts
Wins 6 of 7 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Images and charts · Long documents · Following instructions
o4-mini is the stronger all-rounder.Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite is cheaper and better at facts.
Scores updated · 31 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the seven areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software03o4-mini3 of 3 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking02o4-mini2 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video02o4-mini2 of 2 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own01o4-mini1 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01o4-mini1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01o4-mini1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up21Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite2 of 3 tests
Agents, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs 91% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where o4-mini pulls ahead
- Fixes real GitHub issues in Python projectsSWE-bench Verified+36.5points ahead
- Code for real scientific research problemsSciCode+27.2points ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+18.8points ahead
Where Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+3.1points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 31 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
Codingo4-mini
- SWE-bench Verifiedo4-mini by 36.531.668.1+36.5
- SciCodeo4-mini by 27.219.346.5+27.2
- Terminal-Bench Hardo4-mini by 10.74.515.2+10.7
Reasoningo4-mini
- GPQA Diamondo4-mini by 15.962.578.4+15.9
- Humanity's Last Examo4-mini by 9.76.816.5+9.7
- CritPttie00.6tie
FactsGemini 2.5 Flash Lite
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterGemini 2.5 Flash Lite by 15.33.318.6+15.3
- AA-Omniscience · Accuracyo4-mini by 6.917.924.8+6.9
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGemini 2.5 Flash Lite by 3.122.619.5+3.1
Images and chartso4-mini
Other results17 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- LiveCodeBencho4-mini by 43.733.777.4+43.7
- AIME 2025o4-mini by 42.949.892.7+42.9
- Aider-Polygloto4-mini by 42.226.768.9+42.2
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)o4-mini by 37.218.455.6+37.2
- AA Agentic Indexo4-mini by 306.136.1+30
- HarmBencho4-mini by 306797+30
- Artificial Analysis Coding Indexo4-mini by 16.19.525.6+16.1
- vectara_factual_consistencyGemini 2.5 Flash Lite by 15.396.781.4+15.3
- AIR-Bench 2024o4-mini by 12.765.878.5+12.7
- AA-Omniscienceo4-mini by 9.9-45.6-35.7+9.9
- AA Intelligenceo4-mini by 8.28.516.7+8.2
- simple_safety_testso4-mini by 3.596.5100+3.5
- vectara_avg_summary_lengtho4-mini by 32 rating points95.7127.7+32 rating
- bbqtie94.994tie
- anthropic_red_teamtie98.798.2tie
- XSTesttie97.897.4tie
- vectara_answer_ratetie99.599.2tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or o4-mini?
o4-mini wins six of the seven areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning, images and charts, long documents and following instructions. Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite wins facts, and costs 91% less.
Which is better for coding?
o4-mini. It wins 3 of the 3 coding tests both models report; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.40 per million output tokens; o4-mini costs $1.10 and $4.40. That makes Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite about 91% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 31 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 14 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 17 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.