audio model comparison
Gemini 3.5 Transcribe vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS
Gemini 3.5 Transcribe and Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS are both current audio models, from Google. Gemini 3.5 Transcribe is 63% cheaper per audio minute than Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS, $0.005 vs $0.0135.
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 3.5 Transcribe | Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS |
|---|---|---|
| Price per audio minute | $0.005 (better) | $0.0135 |
| Artificial Analysis AA-WER v2 | 2.6 % WER (#4 of 6) | Not measured |
| Artificial Analysis Speech Arena | Not measured | 1274 Elo (#4 of 11) |
| Provider | ||
| Release date | August 26, 2026 | September 22, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | Not reported | Not reported |
| Max output | Not reported | Not reported |
| Input | audio | text |
| Output | text | audio |
Scores:Artificial Analysis · 2026-10-13Artificial Analysis · 2026-10-13
When to choose each
Gemini 3.5 Transcribe
Best for
- Batch transcription with speaker labels
- Multilingual meeting and call transcripts
Watch out for
- One hour of audio per request, or 30 minutes with diarization or timestamps
- Custom vocabulary cannot be combined with diarization or timestamps, and there is no Batch API
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 3.5 Transcribe vs Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS FAQ
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Transcribe or Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS?
Gemini 3.5 Transcribe is 63% cheaper per audio minute than Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS, $0.005 vs $0.0135.
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Production evaluation
Choosing between Gemini 3.5 Transcribe 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