# Google launches Gemini 4 Hydrogen, a fast agentic model at $1.50 / $7.50 per 1M tokens for everyone

Canonical: https://theagenticweekly.com/news/google-gemini-4-hydrogen · Evidence: Reported · First seen: 2026-11-12 18:08 UTC · Source published: 2026-11-12 18:00 UTC · Brief published: 2026-11-12 18:09 UTC · Updated: 2026-11-12 18:09 UTC · Author: Agentic Weekly

> Gemini 4 Hydrogen is Google's fast Gemini 4 model, released Nov 12, 2026 for "rapid execution across diverse agentic workflows." Google prices it flat at $1.50 per 1M input and $7.50 per 1M output tokens across a 1M-token context, and is rolling it out to the Gemini API, AI Studio, the Gemini app and Search.

Models in this brief: [Gemini 4 Hydrogen](https://theagenticweekly.com/models/gemini-4-hydrogen), [Gemini 4 Carbon](https://theagenticweekly.com/models/gemini-4-carbon)

## What changed

- Google released Gemini 4 Hydrogen (API model code gemini-4-hydrogen), a fast model for everyday coding and agent work that sits below the frontier Gemini 4 Carbon and Argon, and is meant to run alone or as the worker model beside them.
- Price, per the post: a flat $1.50 per 1M input tokens and $7.50 per 1M output tokens across the whole 1M-token context. The API docs list a 1,048,576-token context, 65,536 default max output, up to 1,048,576 with long decode, and text, image, video, audio and PDF input.
- Four thinking levels: low, medium, high (the default) and a new xhigh tier. Google says Hydrogen scores 51 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index at high (Argon: 50) and 54 at xhigh.
- Against Gemini 3.8 Flash, Google claims 2.5x faster task completion at the default setting, 57% vs 18.2% on Terminal-Bench 4.1, and more than 5x fewer fabricated claims.
- Google Antigravity gets Orchestrator, which switches between Carbon and Hydrogen within one session; Google says it reached near-Carbon success on Terminal-Bench 4.0 with 24% less quota and 19% faster completion on average.
- Rollout starts today for all AI Studio and Gemini API tiers, Gemini for business, the Gemini app model menu and Google Search; Antigravity access is for paid AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, and free app users get it only through auto model selection.

## What the price means next to Flash and Carbon

At $1.50 / $7.50 per 1M tokens, Hydrogen costs the same as the list price Google has scheduled for Gemini 3.8 Flash from Jan 1, 2027, and twice the $0.75 / $3.75 that Flash is billed at through Dec 31, 2026 (per Google's pricing page as of Nov 1). It is below Carbon's introductory $2 / $10 and well below Carbon's $4 / $20 list price.

So for a Flash user the real question for the next seven weeks is whether Hydrogen finishes enough work per token to beat a model that is temporarily half its price. Google's own partner figures (2x to 2.8x faster and 12% to 23% fewer tokens than 3.8 Flash) would not by themselves cover a 2x per-token price gap; reliability gains and fewer retries would have to make up the rest. After Jan 1 the per-token prices match.

List prices per 1M tokens, USD (Google's figures)

| Model | Input | Output | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Gemini 4 Hydrogen | $1.50 | $7.50 | Flat across 1M context |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash (to Dec 31) | $0.75 | $3.75 | Rises to $1.50 / $7.50 on Jan 1, 2027 |
| Gemini 4 Carbon (intro) | $2 | $10 | $4 / $20 after Nov 30, 2026 |

## Questions Google's post leaves open

- Every benchmark is Google's own run or a third-party leaderboard Google cites; none of the scores comes with the exact settings or the competing models it calls its class.
- The API page says context caching is implicit only and explicit caching is not supported, so long repeated prompts may not get the cached-input discount Carbon advertises.
- The post does not say whether the 3.8 Flash promo price or the model itself will be retired once Hydrogen is the default.

## In the source's words

> "Hydrogen is built for rapid execution across diverse agentic workflows."
> (Google, Gemini 4 Hydrogen announcement, https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-gemini-4-hydrogen/)

> "Gemini 4 Hydrogen is priced flat across its entire 1 million-token context window at $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens."
> (Google, Gemini 4 Hydrogen announcement, https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-gemini-4-hydrogen/)

> "Orchestrator dynamically switches between models like Carbon and Hydrogen within the same session."
> (Google, Gemini 4 Hydrogen announcement, https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-gemini-4-hydrogen/)

## What we have not verified

- We did not run Gemini 4 Hydrogen; this brief is based on Google's post and API docs.
- All benchmark, speed, token-saving and safety figures are Google's or its partners' claims; we did not reproduce them.
- Pricing for cached input, batch use or the xhigh thinking level beyond the flat rate is not stated in the post.
- Global availability timing per country and per product surface was not checked.

## Timeline

- Source published: 2026-11-12 18:00 UTC
- First seen by our watcher: 2026-11-12 18:08 UTC (via Google Gemini blog)
- Brief published: 2026-11-12 18:09 UTC

## Sources

- [Google: Introducing Gemini 4 Hydrogen](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-gemini-4-hydrogen/) (primary source) (fetched 2026-11-12)
- [Gemini API docs: Gemini 4 Hydrogen model page](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/models/gemini-4-hydrogen) (primary source) (fetched 2026-11-12)

## Related

- [Gemini 4 Hydrogen: model facts, price and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/models/gemini-4-hydrogen)
- [Gemini 4 Carbon](https://theagenticweekly.com/models/gemini-4-carbon)
- [All model news briefs](https://theagenticweekly.com/news/models)
- [Gemini CLI: verdict and setup guide](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/gemini-cli)
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## How to cite

Agentic Weekly, "Google launches Gemini 4 Hydrogen, a fast agentic model at $1.50 / $7.50 per 1M tokens for everyone", published 2026-11-12 18:09 UTC, https://theagenticweekly.com/news/google-gemini-4-hydrogen