AionLabs: Aion-1.0 vs Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash

Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead on the data we track: 11 advantages and none for AionLabs: Aion-1.0.

Key numbers

SpecAionLabs: Aion-1.0Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash
ProviderAion LabsGoogle
Input price (per 1M tokens)$4.00$0.75
Output price (per 1M tokens)$8.00$3.75
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$5.00$1.50
Cheaper than … of all models we track10%31%
Context window131K tokens (~197 pages)1.0M tokens (~1,573 pages)
Larger context than … of all models23%81%
Max output per response33K tokens (~24,600 words)66K tokens (~49,200 words)
Input typestexttext, image, video, file, audio
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2025-02-042026-07-21
Advertisement

What it costs for real workloads

Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.

Workload (per month)AionLabs: Aion-1.0Google: Gemini 3.6 FlashDifference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$460$131Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash saves $329
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$560$127Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash saves $433
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens)
$576$135Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash saves $441
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$368$82.50Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash saves $286
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$208$41.25Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash saves $167

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityAionLabs: Aion-1.0Google: Gemini 3.6 FlashWhat it lets you do
Tool / function calling—✓ Yescall your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)—✓ Yesreturn JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode✓ Yes✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input—✓ Yesread screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input—✓ Yestake speech or audio directly
File / PDF input—✓ Yesaccept documents without your own parsing step
Image output——generate images, not just text
Built-in web search—✓ Yesanswer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)—✓ Yesrepeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities——read token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

DateModelInput / 1MOutput / 1M
2026-08-14Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash$0.75$3.75

Which should you choose?

Choose AionLabs: Aion-1.0 if…

No advantage on the data we track — pick it for provider preference or output quality on your own prompts.

Choose Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 70% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($131 vs $460 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need to fit long inputs in one request — 1.0M tokens is roughly 1,573 pages, against 197
  • you need tool / function calling — to call your APIs and run agent loops; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 does not advertise it
  • you need structured output (JSON schema) — to return JSON that validates against your schema; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 does not advertise it
  • you need image input — to read screenshots, charts and scanned pages; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 does not advertise it
  • you need audio input — to take speech or audio directly; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 does not advertise it
  • you need file / PDF input — to accept documents without your own parsing step; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 does not advertise it
  • you need built-in web search — to answer from live web results; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 does not advertise it
  • you need seed (reproducible sampling) — to repeat a generation for tests and evals; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 does not advertise it
  • you generate long outputs in one go — up to 66K tokens (about 49,200 words) per response
  • you want the newer model — released 2026-07-21, 18 months after the other

Frequently asked questions

Is AionLabs: Aion-1.0 better than Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash?

Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead on the data we track: 11 advantages and none for AionLabs: Aion-1.0.

Which is cheaper, AionLabs: Aion-1.0 or Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash?

Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash is cheaper: $1.50 vs $5.00 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 70% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $131 against $460.

How much do AionLabs: Aion-1.0 and Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash cost per million tokens?

AionLabs: Aion-1.0 costs $4.00 per 1M input tokens and $8.00 per 1M output tokens; Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $0.75 input and $3.75 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

Which has the bigger context window, AionLabs: Aion-1.0 or Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash?

Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash: 1.0M tokens, about 1,573 pages, against 131K (about 197 pages) for AionLabs: Aion-1.0.

Do AionLabs: Aion-1.0 and Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — AionLabs: Aion-1.0: not advertised, Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash: yes. JSON-schema structured output — AionLabs: Aion-1.0: not advertised, Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash: yes.

Can AionLabs: Aion-1.0 or Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash read images?

Only Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts image input; AionLabs: Aion-1.0 is text-only for input.

Is AionLabs: Aion-1.0 or Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash free to use?

No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.

What is the maximum output length of AionLabs: Aion-1.0 and Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash?

AionLabs: Aion-1.0 can write up to 33K tokens (about 24,600 words) per response; Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash up to 66K (about 49,200 words).

When were AionLabs: Aion-1.0 and Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash released?

AionLabs: Aion-1.0 was listed on 2025-02-04; Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash on 2026-07-21.

Has the price of AionLabs: Aion-1.0 or Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash changed?

AionLabs: Aion-1.0: price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-03-10. Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash: input price cut 50% ($1.50 → $0.75/1M), output price cut 50% ($7.50 → $3.75/1M) on 2026-08-14.

About the two models

Aion Labs

AionLabs: Aion-1.0

Aion-1.0 is a multi-model system designed for high performance across various tasks, including reasoning and coding. It is built on DeepSeek-R1, augmented with additional models and techniques such as Tree of Thoughts (ToT) and Mixture of Experts (MoE). It is Aion Lab's most powerful reasoning model.

Full AionLabs: Aion-1.0 specs →

Compare AionLabs: Aion-1.0 with other models

Compare Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash with other models

Advertisement