Gemini 4 Argon kostet ab Dezember doppelt so viel wie bislang

Posted on Oct 23 • Originally published at tokely.me

Short answer: Gemini 4 Argon, Claude Sonnet 5.5, and GPT-6.1 Sol all list at $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens as of October 23, 2026. The tie ends on December 1, 2026, when Google doubles Argon to $4 input and $20 output. Even before then, prompts above 272K tokens cost more on GPT-6.1 Sol.

Google released Gemini 4 Argon (gemini-4-argon) to general availability on the Gemini API on October 13, 2026. Google first showed Argon on September 30, 2026 to a limited group of cyber defenders. The October 13 update opened it to any developer with a paid account.

The release description from Google labels Argon as "our most capable model built for complex coding, agentic, math, and science tasks". Argon is not available on the Free tier, so access requires paid billing on the Gemini API.

Price is not capability, so test each model on your own prompts before you choose one. The current Argon rate applies through November 30, 2026.

Through November 30, 2026, all three models list standard requests at $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens. Cached inputs on all three models cost $0.10 per 1M tokens. Batch workloads on all three models run at $1 per 1M input tokens and $5 per 1M output tokens (up to 272K input tokens on GPT-6.1 Sol).

For a workload of 1M input tokens and 250K output tokens, the total cost comes to $4.50 on Claude Sonnet 5.5, $4.50 on GPT-6.1 Sol, and $4.50 on Gemini 4 Argon. Argon's output price includes thinking tokens, so reasoning counts toward the output bill.

Cost of 1M input plus 250K output tokens at official standard list prices, checked October 23, 2026. Price is not capability: test on your own prompts.

The three models share identical base pricing for standard contexts, but their token limits differ. Argon offers a single 1,048,576-token context window shared by input, thinking, and output tokens. Claude Sonnet 5.5 provides a 1M token context with a 128K max output limit, while GPT-6.1 Sol offers a 1,050,000 context window with a 128K max output limit.

On December 1, 2026, Google raises Gemini 4 Argon standard list rates to $4 per 1M input tokens and $20 per 1M output tokens. Cached inputs increase to $0.20 per 1M tokens, and Batch API pricing rises to $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens.

This adjustment doubles production costs for Argon workloads overnight. For the same workload of 1M input tokens and 250K output tokens, the list price on Argon jumps from $4.50 to $9.00. Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-6.1 Sol remain at $4.50 for the same token volume.

Run your evaluation tests before December 1, while Argon still costs $2 input and $10 output. Teams that plan to rely on Argon should recheck cost forecasts for December and 2027 at the doubled list price.

Prompt size breaks the pricing tie between these three providers today. GPT-6.1 Sol applies a split pricing tier based on context length. Requests up to 272K input tokens run at $2 input, $0.10 cached input, and $10 output, but any request exceeding 272K input tokens shifts to $4 per 1M input tokens, $0.20 per 1M cached input tokens, and $15 per 1M output tokens.

Cost of one request with 500K input plus 20K output tokens. GPT-6.1 Sol bills requests above 272K input tokens at its long-context rate.

In contrast, Claude Sonnet 5.5 bills the full 1M-token context window at standard rates. Anthropic bills a 900K-token request at the exact same rate as a 9K-token request. Gemini 4 Argon also maintains one rate across its whole context window, with no separate tier above 200K.

A single request with 500K input tokens and 20K output tokens shows the effect of the 272K threshold. Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $1.20, and Gemini 4 Argon costs $1.20 until November 30. GPT-6.1 Sol hits the long-context tier and costs $2.30. From December 1, the same request costs $2.40 on Gemini 4 Argon, which leaves Claude Sonnet 5.5 as the cheapest of the three at list price for long prompts.

All three providers list cached input tokens at $0.10 per 1M tokens through November 30. However, Anthropic charges for cache writes in addition to read tokens. Cache writes on Sonnet 5.5 cost $2.50 per 1M tokens for a 5-minute cache or $4 per 1M tokens for a 1-hour cache, meaning your actual savings depend on how frequently you reuse a prompt prefix.

Argon handles caching differently by removing explicit cache controls. Google does not support cachedContents or caches.create on Argon, relying entirely on implicit caching that activates automatically for prompts of at least 4,096 tokens. You cannot pin a cache explicitly with Argon, so cache savings depend on how often Google matches a repeated prompt prefix.

Batch options cut base rates in half across all three providers. Through November 30, Argon batch runs at $1 input and $5 output per 1M tokens, matching Sonnet 5.5 Batch and GPT-6.1 Sol Batch. On December 1, Argon batch doubles to $2 input and $10 output, while Sonnet 5.5 and GPT-6.1 Sol batch prices list at $1 and $5 as of October 23 (up to 272K input tokens on GPT-6.1 Sol).

Moving existing code to Gemini 4 Argon requires adjusting generation parameters according to Google's migration guide. Argon ignores temperature, top_p, and top_k, so developers should remove these parameters from API calls entirely.

Instead, Argon introduces thinking levels of low, medium, and high. Google notes that the medium setting is the default and acts as "your main control over quality, latency, and token use". Because thinking tokens count against billed output tokens, higher thinking levels increase your overall per-request invoice.

A single Argon response can exceed 64K tokens, up to 1M minus the input tokens. Google recommends setting max_output_tokens to at least 32,768 because the limit covers thinking and output together. If you use Grounding with Google Search, Google provides 5,000 free requests per month shared across Gemini 3 and newer models, then charges $14 per 1,000 requests.

Tokely provides access to all three models through a single balance and an OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions endpoint. Switching between providers requires updating only the model ID to gemini-4-argon, claude-sonnet-5-5, or gpt-6.1-sol. You can inspect responses side by side using the Playground.

Tokely prices listed on October 23, 2026 offer discounts below direct provider rates. Gemini 4 Argon lists at $1.40 input, $7.00 output, and $0.07 cached per 1M tokens. Claude Sonnet 5.5 lists at $1.50 input, $7.50 output, and $0.075 cached per 1M tokens. GPT-6.1 Sol lists at $0.80 input, $4.00 output, and $0.04 cached per 1M tokens.

The workload of 1M input tokens and 250K output tokens costs $3.15 on Argon, $3.38 on Sonnet 5.5, and $1.80 on GPT-6.1 Sol on Tokely. Tokely prices can change, so check current rates on the Tokely models page.

Price details and migration rules are documented in the official vendor publications, including Gemini API pricing, Gemini API changelog, What's new in Gemini 4 Argon, Claude pricing, OpenAI API pricing, and our price study Are AI APIs Getting Cheaper?.