A date for your budget. Google's pricing page lists the paid price of Gemini 3.8 Flash as $0.75 per 1M input tokens through December 31, 2026, and $1.50 starting January 1, 2027. Output goes from $3.75 to $7.50 on the same day. The model doesn't change. The bill does.
Prerequisites
A Gemini API key in GEMINI_API_KEY, on the paid tier
A rough idea of how many tokens your app uses each month
Steps
Open your usage in Google AI Studio and note last month's input and output tokens for gemini-3.8-flash.
Double that part of your bill to see January's cost at the same usage.
Decide before the new year whether to stay, or to move some work to a cheaper model. Google's pricing page lists the Flash-Lite models at lower prices.
Test it
If you move anything to another model, run your usual prompts through it and compare the answers before switching your live app.
Not confirmed
The free tier is listed as free of charge and the page shows no change to it.
Prices are from Google's pricing page on October 8, 2026. Google can change them again before January.
Wirestack