audio model comparison
Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS are both current audio models, from Google. Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS is 50% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview, $0.50 vs $1. On Artificial Analysis Speech Arena, Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview scores 1214 Elo and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS 1274 Elo (Artificial Analysis, measured October 13, 2026).
Data verified October 13, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-13
Side by side
Standard-tier prices in effect today. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview | Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS |
|---|---|---|
| Price per audio minute | Not reported | $0.0135 |
| Price per 1M input tokens | $1 | $0.50 (better) |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $20 | $9 (better) |
| Cost of 10M input and 2M output tokens | $50 | $23 (better) |
| Artificial Analysis Speech Arena | 1214 Elo (#6 of 11) | 1274 Elo (#4 of 11) (better) |
| Provider | ||
| Release date | April 15, 2026 | September 22, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | 8,192 tokens | Not reported |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens | Not reported |
| Input | text | text |
| Output | audio | audio |
When to choose each
Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview
Best for
- Controllable text-to-speech generation
Watch out for
- This preview endpoint may change before becoming stable and has more restrictive rate limits
- Google replaced it with Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS, which is cheaper and rated higher by listeners
Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
Best for
- Narration, audiobooks and product audio where voice quality matters more than cost
- Narration and voice output attached to an existing Gemini text pipeline
- Audio generation budgeted before the 2027 price step
Watch out for
- Google doubles the rates on 2027-01-01, to $1.00 input and $18 output per 1M tokens (about $0.027 per minute)
- Audio output is billed in audio tokens, which do not convert one-for-one to text tokens, so a text-token budget does not predict this cost
- Google's pricing page lists no context window or output cap for this model, so both are recorded as unknown
- No independent speech-quality benchmark is recorded here
Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS FAQ
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview or Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS?
Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS is 50% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview, $0.50 vs $1. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview costs $50 and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS $23 at standard rates.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview or Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS?
Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS leads on Artificial Analysis Speech Arena, 1274 Elo to 1214 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Related comparisons
- Eleven v4 Turbo vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Live Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
- Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS
- Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview vs TTS-1
- Gemini 3.5 Live Translate Preview vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
- Gemini 3.5 Transcribe vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
- Gemini 3.8 Flash-Lite TTS vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
- Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS vs Gemini 3.8 Live
- Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS vs GPT-4o Transcribe
- Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS vs GPT-Realtime-2
Production evaluation
Choosing between Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS Preview and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty