Google began its transition to Gemini 3 a few weeks ago with the launch of the Pro model, and the arrival of Gemini 3 Flash kicks it into high gear. The new, faster Gemini 3 model is coming to the Gemini app and search, and developers will be able to access it immediately via the Gemini API, Vertex AI, AI Studio, and Antigravity. Google’s bigger gen AI model is also picking up steam, with both Gemini 3 Pro and its image component (Nano Banana Pro) expanding in search.
This may come as a shock, but Google says Gemini 3 Flash is faster and more capable than its previous base model. As usual, Google has a raft of benchmark numbers that show modest improvements for the new model. It bests the old 2.5 Flash in basic academic and reasoning tests like GPQA Diamond and MMMU Pro (where it even beats 3 Pro). It gets a larger boost in Humanity’s Last Exam (HLE), which tests advanced domain-specific knowledge. Gemini 3 Flash has tripled the old models’ score in HLE, landing at 33.7 percent without tool use. That’s just a few points behind the Gemini 3 Pro model.
Google is talking up Gemini 3 Flash’s coding skills, and the provided benchmarks seem to back that talk up. Over the past year, Google has mostly pushed its Pro models as the best for generating code, but 3 Flash has done a lot of catching up. In the popular SWE-Bench Verified test, Gemini 3 Flash has gained almost 20 points on the 2.5 branch.
The new model is also a lot less likely to get general-knowledge questions wrong. In the Simple QA Verified test, Gemini 3 Flash scored 68.7 percent, which is only a little below Gemini 3 Pro. The last Flash model scored just 28.1 percent on that test. At least as far as the evaluation scores go, Gemini 3 Flash performs much closer to Google’s Pro model versus the older 2.5 family. At the same time, it’s considerably more efficient, according to Google.
One of Gemini 3 Pro’s defining advances was its ability to generate interactive simulations and multimodal content. Gemini 3 Flash reportedly retains that underlying capability. Gemini 3 Flash offers better performance than Gemini 2.5 Pro did, but it runs workloads three times faster. It’s also a lot cheaper than the Pro models if you’re paying per token. One million input tokens for 3 Flash will run devs $0.50, and a million output tokens will cost $3. However, that’s an increase compared to Gemini 2.5 Flash input and output at $0.30 and $2.50, respectively. The Pro model’s tokens are $2 (1M input) and $12 (1M output).
Simplified model selection
Google’s rapid-fire release of new AI models and tools has occasionally made the Gemini app a bit confusing. Over recent weeks, the settings have been pared down and rearranged. With the release of Gemini 3 Flash, that will become the new default model in the Gemini app and web interface—that’s the Fast setting in the app, as well as the one labeled Thinking, which uses simulated reasoning for better outputs.
Gemini 3 Pro will continue to be available under the Pro option. That’s still a bit misleading, though, as both versions of Gemini 3 can use the reasoning process that Google likes to call “thinking” to generate answers. Whichever one you choose in the app, you can then select tools like image generation, canvas, and Deep Research.
In addition to its debut in the Gemini app, the new Flash model will be coming to search immediately. When Google says “search” in this context, it mostly means AI Mode. Gemini 3 Flash will be the default model in AI Mode going forward. That means free users will see a notable improvement when using the Gemini app.
There are no specific changes to AI Overviews. Google says AI Overviews will continue to use the best model for the job. Due to its place at the top of organic search results, though, you’ll probably see it lean on less capable (but faster) models. Gemini 3 Flash could show up there—even Gemini 3 Pro could power some complex queries in AI Overviews for paying subscribers.
Gemini 3 Pro is also expanding in AI Mode for all US-based users. Likewise, Gemini 3 Pro Image (Nano Banana Pro) will also arrive in AI mode for all. There will be limits on free access to these models, but Google hasn’t specified what those are. It does say that Pro and Ultra subscribers will enjoy much higher usage limits.
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