← comparisons · head to head
Gemini 4 Hydrogen vs Gemini 4 Carbon
Gemini 4 Carbon scores higher than Gemini 4 Hydrogen on all 4 public leaderboards that rate both. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Gemini 4 Hydrogen is at 81.9 and Gemini 4 Carbon at 94.1 (out of 100). On each maker's API, Gemini 4 Hydrogen costs $1.50 / $7.50 per 1M tokens (input / output) and Gemini 4 Carbon $2 / $10.
Scores as published by each board; table composed November 13, 2026.
Get the next launch alert, free →
Leaderboard by leaderboard
| Board | Gemini 4 Hydrogen | Gemini 4 Carbon | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo (community votes) | 1,704.2 | 1,768.2 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
| LiveBench global average (0-100) | 77 | 83.5 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
| Vals AI Vals Index accuracy % · weighted finance + coding tasks | 68.5 | 70.5 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
| Artificial Analysis intelligence index · measured runs only | 53.9 | 60 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
Raw scores are each board's own scale, so compare within a row, not across rows. Full table: the bench index.
For coding
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Gemini 4 Hydrogen is at 76 (#10 of 48) and Gemini 4 Carbon at 100 (#1). Gemini 4 Carbon scores higher on all 3 coding boards that rate both.
| Coding board | Gemini 4 Hydrogen | Gemini 4 Carbon |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena · Coding | 1,515.9 | 1,564.4 |
| LiveBench · Coding | 78.5 | 91 |
| Vals Vibe Code Bench | 87.8 | 89.1 |
Gemini 4 Hydrogen at a glance
- Developer
- Status
- Live since November 12, 2026
- API price
- $1.50 input / $7.50 output per 1M tokens · Google, gemini-4-hydrogen
- Context window
- 1.05M tokens
Live — Nov 12 · GA on the Gemini API as gemini-4-hydrogen (Google's release notes, Nov 12), free tier and paid tier, also in Google AI Studio and the default model for the Antigravity agent in Gemini Managed Agents · $1.50 / $7.50 per 1M, $0.075 cached (implicit caching only); Batch and Flex $0.75 / $3.75; Priority $2.70 / $13.50 · no introductory discount: the same as the SKU rows Google Cloud listed at 08:50 UTC · 1M unified context; 65,536 max output by default, up to 1M with long decode · text, image, video, audio and PDF in, text out · thinking levels low, medium, high (default) and a new xhigh · Google calls Gemini 3.8 Flash its 'previous-generation Flash model' ($0.75 / $3.75 intro through Dec 31, $1.50 / $7.50 from Jan 1) · our sweep fired at 17:46 UTC · before launch: codename reported since Oct 27, Business Insider (Nov 11) on staff testing, billing SKUs Nov 12 08:50 UTC · Nov 12 18:50 UTC: 54 on Artificial Analysis' Intelligence Index (Gemini 4 Hydrogen (Xhigh)), above Gemini 4 Argon (50) and GPT-6.1 Terra (51), one point under Claude Sonnet 5.5 (55); 54.3% on CursorBench at High, 12th of its listed settings.
Gemini 4 Hydrogen is live: Google's new everyday model costs $1.50 / $7.50 per 1M tokens, with a free tier and a 1M context
2026-11-12 · Google released Gemini 4 Hydrogen (gemini-4-hydrogen) on November 12 as generally available on the Gemini API, on the free tier and at $1.50 per 1M input tokens and $7.50 per 1M output tokens on the paid tier.
Gemini 4 Hydrogen appears in Google Cloud's price list at $1.50 input and $7.50 output per 1M tokens, before Google has announced it
2026-11-12 · Google Cloud's public SKU list now carries Gemini 4 Hydrogen under two services, the Gemini API and Vertex AI, before Google has announced the model. @Mr_Salio flagged the rows at 08:11 UTC on November 12, and ArtificialWatch read them on Google's SKU list at 08:50 UTC.
Gemini 4 Carbon at a glance
- Developer
- Status
- Live since November 10, 2026
- API price
- $2 input / $10 output per 1M tokens · Google, gemini-4-carbon
- Context window
- 1.05M tokens
Live — Nov 10 · GA on the Gemini API as gemini-4-carbon (Google's release notes, Nov 10) and in Google AI Studio, paid tier only, no free tier · introductory $2 / $10 per 1M through Nov 30, then $4 / $20 from Dec 1; cached input $0.10, then $0.20, implicit caching only · unified 1,048,576-token context; max output 65,536 by default, up to about 1M with long decode · text, image, video, audio and PDF in, text out · thinking levels low / medium / high, default medium; Google says Carbon spends more thinking tokens per turn than Argon at the same per-token price · Batch, Flex and Priority inference · Google calls it its strongest reasoning model, for agentic coding, multimodal knowledge work, scientific reasoning and cybersecurity defense · Gemini app: screenshots from @LuminaBench and @Mr_Salio show it on Ultra plans first, not confirmed by Google · AW's radar fired at 15:46 UTC · history: announced Oct 28 for cyber defenders and Fairwind partners, alert fired 18:58 UTC; Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 59.4 at high, first at the time (Oct 28); Google's own figures: SEC-bench Pro 88.2%, ExploitGym 54.8%, CWE-bench 71.0%; billing SKUs appeared on Google Cloud's SKU list Nov 10, read 08:55 UTC · 16:51 UTC: OpenRouter lists google/gemini-4-carbon at $2 / $10, 1,048,576 context, plus :batch at $1 / $5; Vertex AI's model docs still do not · CursorBench 4.0 (cursor.com/cursorbench, read 16:51 UTC): #1 at 60.4% on high ($9.22 per task) and 60.1% on medium ($8.49), against Fable 5.2 max 60.0% ($32.79) and Opus 5.5 max 57.8% ($13.43); Argon high 52.9% · SimpleBench (read 18:50 UTC Nov 10): 92.6%, #2 behind Fable 5.2 at 94.9%; Argon 91.7%.
Gemini 4 Carbon tops CursorBench 4.0 at 60.4%, edging Claude Fable 5.2 at less than a third of the cost per task
2026-11-10 · Gemini 4 Carbon is #1 on CursorBench 4.0, Cursor's coding-agent benchmark, at 60.4% on its high thinking setting, hours after Google made it generally available. That edges out Claude Fable 5.2 at its max setting, 60.0%, at less than a third of the cost per task by Cursor's figures.
Gemini 4 Carbon is live on the Gemini API at $2 / $10 per 1M tokens until November 30, then $4 / $20
2026-11-10 · Google made Gemini 4 Carbon generally available on the Gemini API on November 10 as gemini-4-carbon, at an introductory $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens through November 30. ArtificialWatch's radar fired at 15:46 UTC.
Gemini 4 Hydrogen vs Gemini 4 Carbon: quick answers
Which is better, Gemini 4 Hydrogen or Gemini 4 Carbon?
It depends on what you measure. Gemini 4 Carbon scores higher than Gemini 4 Hydrogen on all 4 public leaderboards that rate both. Gemini 4 Carbon's widest lead is on LiveBench. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Gemini 4 Hydrogen is at 81.9 and Gemini 4 Carbon at 94.1 (out of 100).
Which is newer, Gemini 4 Hydrogen or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Gemini 4 Hydrogen. It went live on November 12, 2026, 2 days after Gemini 4 Carbon (November 10, 2026).
Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Hydrogen or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Gemini 4 Hydrogen is cheaper on both input and output. On each vendor's own API, Gemini 4 Hydrogen is $1.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens and Gemini 4 Carbon is $2 input / $10 output per million tokens. Prices as published in the models.dev catalog, as of 2026-11-12.
Which has the bigger context window, Gemini 4 Hydrogen or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Neither. Both take 1.05M tokens.
How do Gemini 4 Hydrogen and Gemini 4 Carbon compare for coding?
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Gemini 4 Hydrogen is at 76 (#10 of 48) and Gemini 4 Carbon at 100 (#1). Gemini 4 Carbon scores higher on all 3 coding boards that rate both.
Who makes Gemini 4 Hydrogen and Gemini 4 Carbon?
Both are from Google.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each score is the leaderboard's own published figure, read by ArtificialWatch (table composed November 13, 2026). Boards measure different things, so raw scores are only comparable within a row.
More comparisons
Hear when the next one drops. Free.
Free: a Chrome push and an email about 15 minutes after a new model answers on a public API. Members get a text or a phone call the moment a launch is confirmed.
- Free forever
- No card
- Unsubscribe in one click
Also: the bench index · API pricing · what a workload costs on each · the wire