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Google vs SambaNova Cloud: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence

Full comparison of Google and SambaNova Cloud — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Rates sourced from public APIs — verify before use.

Google

Gemini 3.8 Flash — plus Veo 3.1 video, Lyria 3.5 music, and Gemini Omni

Google DeepMind's Gemini 3.x family spans Gemini 3.8 Flash (latest, promotional pricing until Dec 31 2026), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview. The platform has expanded far beyond text: Veo 3.1 for video generation, Lyria 3.5 for music generation, Gemini Omni for video generation, and Gemini Embedding 2 for multimodal embeddings. Gemma 4 open-weight models are free via the API. Check the live table for current per-token rates.

VisionLong-contextCodingMultimodalVideo generationMusic generationCost-efficiency
Proprietary modelsHosts open weights

SambaNova Cloud

High-throughput inference on SambaNova RDU chips — gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, Llama

SambaNova Cloud runs inference on SambaNova's proprietary Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips, delivering very high throughput (800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b). The catalog covers gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, MiniMax-M3, DeepSeek-V3.2, Meta-Llama-3.3-70B, and Gemma 4 31B. Pricing is PAYG with prompt caching on select models.

High-throughput inferenceCost-sensitive workloadsOpen-weight models
Open-weight hostHosts open weights

Key metric comparison

Google
SambaNova Cloud
Cheapest input ($/1M)

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Cheapest output ($/1M)

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Peak throughput

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Best latency (TTFT)

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Intelligence score

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Context window

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Live token pricing

Strengths and weaknesses

Google

Gemini 3.8 Flash: promotional pricing until Dec 31 2026 — check live table for current rates
Wide multimodal API: text, image, audio, video generation, music, speech, transcription
Veo 3.1 video generation (720p/1080p/4K)
Gemma 4 open-weight models free via API
Free tier via Google AI Studio for prototyping
Google Search grounding: 5,000 free requests/month on Gemini 3.x
Promotional pricing expires Jan 1 2027 — prices double
Complex tiered pricing based on context length (≤200K vs >200K)
API reliability has historically lagged OpenAI

SambaNova Cloud

Proprietary RDU chips deliver very high throughput — 800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b
Competitive pricing on gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59 per 1M)
Prompt caching on GLM-5.3 (cached input at $0.14/1M)
Strong open-weight model catalog: Llama, DeepSeek, Gemma, MiniMax
Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform
RDU architecture may behave differently from GPU inference for some workloads

Key differentiators

Google

A wide multimodal AI API — text, image, video (Veo 3.1), music (Lyria 3.5), speech, transcription, and robotics under one key, with Gemini 3.8 Flash at promotional pricing until end of 2026.

SambaNova Cloud

Proprietary RDU chips deliver industry-leading throughput on open-weight models at competitive per-token rates.

Frequently asked questions

Google FAQs

What are the latest Google Gemini models?

As of September 2026, the Gemini 3.x family includes Gemini 3.8 Flash (newest, promotional pricing until December 31, 2026), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview. Check ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing for current rates.

What is Gemini 3.8 Flash pricing?

Gemini 3.8 Flash is on promotional pricing until December 31, 2026, with standard rates applying from January 1, 2027. Batch pricing is 50% off. Check ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing for current rates.

Does Google offer video generation via API?

Yes. Veo 3.1 generates video at 720p, 1080p, and 4K resolutions. Gemini Omni Flash is also available for video generation. Check ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing for current rates.

SambaNova Cloud FAQs

What makes SambaNova Cloud different?

SambaNova runs inference on its own Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips rather than NVIDIA GPUs. This delivers very high throughput — over 800 tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b — at competitive per-token rates.

What models does SambaNova Cloud offer?

As of October 2026: gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59), GLM-5.3 ($1.40/$4.40, cached $0.14), MiniMax-M3 ($0.60/$2.40, cached $0.06), DeepSeek-V3.2 ($3.00/$4.50), Meta-Llama-3.3-70B ($0.60/$1.20), and Gemma 4 31B ($0.38/$1.15). See cloud.sambanova.ai/plans/pricing for current rates.

Does SambaNova offer prompt caching?

Yes, on GLM-5.3 (cached input $0.14/1M vs $1.40/1M standard) and MiniMax-M3 (cached input $0.06/1M vs $0.60/1M standard).

Provider resources

Google

Provider page
Website
PricingDocs

SambaNova Cloud

Provider page
Website
Pricing

Google — Gemini 3.8 Flash — plus Veo 3.1 video, Lyria 3.5 music, and Gemini Omni

Google DeepMind's Gemini 3.x family spans Gemini 3.8 Flash (latest, promotional pricing until Dec 31 2026), Gemini 3.7 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash, and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview. The platform has expanded far beyond text: Veo 3.1 for video generation, Lyria 3.5 for music generation, Gemini Omni for video generation, and Gemini Embedding 2 for multimodal embeddings. Gemma 4 open-weight models are free via the API. Check the live table for current per-token rates.

A wide multimodal AI API — text, image, video (Veo 3.1), music (Lyria 3.5), speech, transcription, and robotics under one key, with Gemini 3.8 Flash at promotional pricing until end of 2026.

SambaNova Cloud — High-throughput inference on SambaNova RDU chips — gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, Llama

SambaNova Cloud runs inference on SambaNova's proprietary Reconfigurable Dataflow Unit (RDU) chips, delivering very high throughput (800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b). The catalog covers gpt-oss-120b, GLM-5.3, MiniMax-M3, DeepSeek-V3.2, Meta-Llama-3.3-70B, and Gemma 4 31B. Pricing is PAYG with prompt caching on select models.

Proprietary RDU chips deliver industry-leading throughput on open-weight models at competitive per-token rates.

Key strengths compared

Google

  • Gemini 3.8 Flash: promotional pricing until Dec 31 2026 — check live table for current rates
  • Wide multimodal API: text, image, audio, video generation, music, speech, transcription
  • Veo 3.1 video generation (720p/1080p/4K)
  • Promotional pricing expires Jan 1 2027 — prices double
  • Complex tiered pricing based on context length (≤200K vs >200K)

SambaNova Cloud

  • Proprietary RDU chips deliver very high throughput — 800+ tokens/sec on gpt-oss-120b
  • Competitive pricing on gpt-oss-120b ($0.22/$0.59 per 1M)
  • Prompt caching on GLM-5.3 (cached input at $0.14/1M)
  • Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
  • No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform

Key weaknesses compared

Google

  • Promotional pricing expires Jan 1 2027 — prices double
  • Complex tiered pricing based on context length (≤200K vs >200K)
  • API reliability has historically lagged OpenAI

SambaNova Cloud

  • Smaller model catalog vs OpenRouter or Together AI
  • No proprietary frontier models — inference-only platform
  • RDU architecture may behave differently from GPU inference for some workloads

Provider category context

Google is a frontier lab, founded in 1998. SambaNova Cloud is a inference api, founded in 2017. Google as a frontier lab trains and serves its own proprietary models. SambaNova Cloud as an inference API provider hosts open-weight models — typically offering lower prices for equivalent capability tiers but without access to proprietary frontier models.

How to choose between them

Choose Google if you need gemini 3.8 flash: promotional pricing until dec 31 2026 — check live table for current rates. Choose SambaNova Cloud if you need High-throughput inference. For high-volume production workloads, run a cost comparison using the token pricing table above with your actual prompt/completion token ratio — the cheapest provider depends heavily on your input-to-output token ratio.