Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 vs Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 (2025) and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct (2026) are general-purpose language models from Google DeepMind and AI at Meta. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 ships a 1M-token context window, while Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct ships a not-yet-sourced context window. On pricing, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct costs $0.24/1M input tokens versus $1.25/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is ~421% cheaper at $0.24/1M; pay for Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 only for provider fit.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-06 | 2026-01-01 |
| Context window | 1M | — |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | decoder only | - |
| License | Unknown | Proprietary |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.25/1M tokens | $0.24/1M tokens |
| Output price | $10/1M tokens | $0.97/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on multimodal input: Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct. Both models share structured outputs, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 lists $1.25/1M input and $10/1M output tokens, while Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct lists $0.24/1M input and $0.97/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct lower by about $3.42 per million blended tokens. Availability is 1 providers versus 1, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 when provider fit are central to the workload. Choose Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct when provider fit and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 costs $1.25/1M input and $10/1M output tokens. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct costs $0.24/1M input and $0.97/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct open source?
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 is listed under Unknown. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for multimodal input, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for structured outputs, Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct?
Both Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct expose structured outputs. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Where can I run Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct?
Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 is available on OpenRouter. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is available on AWS Bedrock. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 over Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is ~421% cheaper at $0.24/1M; pay for Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06 only for provider fit. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 05-06; if it depends on provider fit, run the same evaluation with Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.