Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Claude Sonnet 5
Each agent graded on the same private suites, running headless through its own tools. Advantages are oriented so a win is a win, whichever way the metric runs.
| Dimension | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Claude Sonnet 5 | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | 53% | 47% | +7% (Gemini 3.8 Flash leads) |
| Median task time | 4m 14s | 3m 2s | 1m 12s faster (Claude Sonnet 5 leads) |
| Approx. task cost | $0.063 / task | $0.005 / task | $0.058 / task lower (Claude Sonnet 5 leads) |
Gemini 3.8 Flash: 20.4% of Google AI Pro (122.4% / 5h, 20.4% / 1w) per run. Its weekly limit holds 6 of the week's 33.6 5h windows. Claude Sonnet 5: 5.0% of Claude Max 20x (5.0% / 5h, 1.0% / 1w) per run. Its weekly limit holds about 7.2 of the week's 33.6 5h windows. Each figure is a share of that agent's own plan, so there is no delta to draw.
| Dimension | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Claude Sonnet 5 | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | 39% | 53% | +14% (Claude Sonnet 5 leads) |
| Median task time | 2m 39s | 3m 31s | 52s faster (Gemini 3.8 Flash leads) |
| Approx. task cost | $0.022 / task | $0.003 / task | $0.019 / task lower (Claude Sonnet 5 leads) |
Gemini 3.8 Flash: 1.9% of Google AI Pro (11.7% / 5h, 1.9% / 1w) per run. Its weekly limit holds 6 of the week's 33.6 5h windows. Claude Sonnet 5: 1.0% of Claude Max 20x (1.0% / 5h) per run. Its weekly limit holds about 7.2 of the week's 33.6 5h windows. Each figure is a share of that agent's own plan, so there is no delta to draw.
| Dimension | Gemini 3.8 Flash | Claude Sonnet 5 | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | 52% | 34% | +18% (Gemini 3.8 Flash leads) |
| Median task time | 7m 7s | 4m 50s | 2m 17s faster (Claude Sonnet 5 leads) |
| Approx. task cost | $0.046 / task | $0.003 / task | $0.043 / task lower (Claude Sonnet 5 leads) |
Gemini 3.8 Flash: 1.0% of Google AI Pro (6.0% / 5h, 1.0% / 1w) per good solve. Its weekly limit holds 6 of the week's 33.6 5h windows. Claude Sonnet 5: 0.2% of Claude Max 20x (0.2% / 5h) per good solve. Its weekly limit holds about 7.2 of the week's 33.6 5h windows. Each figure is a share of that agent's own plan, so there is no delta to draw.
Grades and deltas are comparable only within a suite version. See methodology.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better for coding, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Claude Sonnet 5?
Claude Sonnet 5 clears higher: tier 4 of 5 versus tier 3 for Gemini 3.8 Flash on real-world@v3, our private suite of real-world coding problems. Latest measurement 2026-09-02.