Cheaper alternatives to Gemini 2.5 Pro
Gemini 2.5 Pro scores 1458 on the overall Arena and costs about $687.50/month at 100,000 calls (1,500 in / 500 out). Here are models that match or beat it on quality for less.
| GLM-5.3-Flash | 1472 | $23.75 | $663.75/mo | Z.ai (Zhipu AI) |
| MiMo-V2.5-Pro | 1465 | $108.75 | $578.75/mo | Xiaomi |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | 1476 | $300.00 | $387.50/mo | |
| Gemini 3.7 Flash | 1490 | $300.00 | $387.50/mo | |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | 1495 | $300.00 | $387.50/mo | |
| Muse Spark 1.1 | 1480 | $400.00 | $287.50/mo | Meta |
| Muse Spark 1.2 | 1489 | $400.00 | $287.50/mo | Meta |
| GLM-5.2 | 1463 | $430.00 | $257.50/mo | Z.ai (Zhipu AI) |
| GLM-5.1 | 1462 | $430.00 | $257.50/mo | Z.ai (Zhipu AI) |
| Qwen3.8 Max | 1481 | $600.00 | $87.50/mo | Alibaba |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1476 | $675.00 | $12.50/mo |
Intelligence scores are community Arena ratings from LMArena / arena.ai, used under CC BY 4.0. Snapshot last refreshed 18 September 2026. Scores are a relative signal, not an absolute measure of capability. A Measured score was voted on directly; an Estimated score is inherited from an identical base model (a regional/creator-prefixed hosting duplicate). See our methodology.
FAQ
Is there a cheaper model as good as Gemini 2.5 Pro?
Yes. GLM-5.3-Flash matches or beats Gemini 2.5 Pro on the overall Arena leaderboard and costs about $23.75/month versus $687.50/month at a typical volume of 100,000 calls — saving roughly $663.75/month.
How is 'as good' defined?
We only list models with an overall Arena score at or above Gemini 2.5 Pro's (1458). Arena scores are community preference ratings, not a single benchmark — confirm the alternative on your own task before switching.
Cite / link to this page
You’re welcome to reference this page and its figures with attribution and a link back.
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