Google says its new Gemini 3.8 Flash model ‘works harder’ but might cost more
TL;DR
Google launched Gemini 3.8 Flash, arriving just a few weeks after its predecessor. The company claims the new model "works harder" than Gemini 3.7 Flash by performing more reasoning steps on complex tasks and "calling tools iteratively. " It has the same introductory pricing as 3.7 Flash, $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens, but could still end up costing users more. Google warns that "the model might use more tokens to maximize performance, especially at higher effort levels.
Nauti's Take
More reasoning steps and iterative tool calling are real progress for agent workflows that used to break on shallow answers. The risk sits in the pricing model: the token rate stays flat while consumption climbs at higher effort levels, so the bill grows quietly.
Teams running Gemini in production should measure cost per task before moving off 3.7 Flash.
Sources