Gemini 3.1 Pro vs GPT-5.6 Sol
Gemini 3.1 Pro and GPT-5.6 Sol are both current production-tier models. Gemini 3.1 Pro is meaningfully cheaper at $2 / $12 per 1M. Gemini 3.1 Pro leads on long-context retrieval. GPT-5.6 Sol leads on instruction following, tool use.
Specs side by side
| Metric | Google Gemini 3.1 Pro | OpenAI GPT-5.6 Sol |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $2 | $5 |
| Output price (per 1M) | $12 | $30 |
| Context window | 2M tokens | 1.1M tokens |
| Speed tier | balanced | balanced |
| Open weights | No | No |
| EU region | Yes | Yes |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Prompt caching | Yes | Yes |
| Vision input | Yes | Yes |
| Extended thinking | Yes | Yes |
When to choose each
Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro if…
- Cost is a priority ($2 / $12 per 1M vs $5 / $30 per 1M)
- You need 2M context (2× more than GPT-5.6 Sol)
- Long-context retrieval is central to your workload
Choose GPT-5.6 Sol if…
- You need realtime speech-to-speech
- Instruction following is central to your workload
- Tool use is central to your workload
Benchmark delta
Gemini 3.1 Pro leads on
- Long-context retrieval
GPT-5.6 Sol leads on
- Instruction following
- Tool use
FAQ — Gemini 3.1 Pro vs GPT-5.6 Sol
Gemini 3.1 Pro vs GPT-5.6 Sol — which is better?
Gemini 3.1 Pro and GPT-5.6 Sol are both current production-tier models. Gemini 3.1 Pro is meaningfully cheaper at $2 / $12 per 1M. Gemini 3.1 Pro leads on long-context retrieval. GPT-5.6 Sol leads on instruction following, tool use. The right pick depends on your use case — see "When to choose each" above for a data-driven decision.
How does Gemini 3.1 Pro pricing compare to GPT-5.6 Sol?
Gemini 3.1 Pro costs $2 / $12 per 1M vs GPT-5.6 Sol at $5 / $30 per 1M. Gemini 3.1 Pro is cheaper on output tokens by roughly 150%. Both support prompt caching, which reduces effective cost by 80-90% on repeat system prompts.
Does Gemini 3.1 Pro or GPT-5.6 Sol have the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.1 Pro has a 2M-token context window — 2× the 1.1M context of GPT-5.6 Sol. Enough for entire codebases, books, or multi-document RAG.
Is there a free tier for Gemini 3.1 Pro or GPT-5.6 Sol?
Gemini 3.1 Pro: no — Paid-only since 2026-04-01 (previously had free tier via AI Studio). GPT-5.6 Sol: no — Paid-only — no free API tier; available via ChatGPT Plus/Pro.
Which is better for coding — Gemini 3.1 Pro or GPT-5.6 Sol?
GPT-5.6 Sol leads on coding benchmarks (Gemini 3.1 Pro: 94/100, GPT-5.6 Sol: 96/100). For production coding agents also weigh tool-use performance — Gemini 3.1 Pro scores 91, GPT-5.6 Sol scores 95.