Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 vs Grok 3 Mini
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 (2025) and Grok 3 Mini (2025) are general-purpose language models from Google DeepMind and xAI. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 ships a 1m-token context window, while Grok 3 Mini ships a 131k-token context window. On pricing, Grok 3 Mini costs $0.25/1M input tokens versus $1.25/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Grok 3 Mini is ~400% cheaper at $0.25/1M; pay for Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 only for long-context analysis.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Grok 3 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps and long-context analysis | multimodal apps and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | RAG, Long context, and Vision | RAG, Long context, and Vision |
| Context window | 1m | 131k |
| Cheapest output | $10/1M tokens | $1.27/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 1 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Local decision data tags Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 for RAG, Long context, and Vision.
- Grok 3 Mini has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $1.27/1M tokens.
- Grok 3 Mini has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Grok 3 Mini for RAG, Long context, and Vision.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06
$3,500
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Grok 3 Mini
$518
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry
Estimated monthly gap: $2,983. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Grok 3 Mini is $8.73/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 is $8.73/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-06 | 2025-02-17 |
| Context window | 1m | 131k |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | - |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Openness | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Weights | Not released | Not released |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-01 | 2024-11 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Grok 3 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.25/1M tokens | $0.25/1M tokens |
| Output price | $10/1M tokens | $1.27/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Grok 3 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-15. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.