How this Gemini Token Calculator works
How Gemini counts tokens
Google's tokenizer differs from OpenAI's and Anthropic's, so token counts for identical text won't match across providers. The Gemini API returns usage metadata with exact counts per request; the rough four-characters-per-token guide helps for early English planning. For multimodal prompts Google counts images, audio, and video on their own terms — this calculator focuses on text input and output.
Choosing the right Gemini model
The verified lineup runs from Gemini 3.1 Pro for capable text work, through Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3 Flash for fast general-purpose use, to the stable Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite endpoint as the lowest-cost tier for very high volume. Output is priced above input across the lineup, so Flash and Flash-Lite are especially attractive for generation-heavy features — compare them against Pro in the calculator above.
Long context and what's excluded
Google publishes separate, higher rates for very long-context requests, which this short-context baseline does not apply. The estimate also excludes context caching, the Batch API, search grounding, and any multimodal usage. Treat it as a planning baseline and confirm current rates on Google's pricing page.