Guide2026/06/01Updated 2026/08/28

Gemini Omni Flash API Status: 1.1 Is Generally Available

Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash went GA on August 27, 2026 — model ID gemini-omni-1.1-flash at ~$0.10/second. The full status: what's live, the preview-to-GA timeline, and how it compares to Veo 3.1.

Gemini Omni Flash API Status: 1.1 Is Generally Available

Quick Answer

The Gemini Omni Flash API is now generally available. On August 27, 2026, Google announced Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash — model ID gemini-omni-1.1-flash, no -preview suffix, marked Generally Available on the pricing page at the same ~$0.10 per second for 720p output. The 1.0 preview string (gemini-omni-flash-preview, live since June 30, 2026) still works but is now the legacy path. This post is the status-and-history companion to our hands-on API tutorial — here you get the timeline from "coming weeks" through preview to GA, what shipped at each stage, and how Omni Flash stacks up against Seedance 2.0, Kling 3.0, and Veo 3.1. For parameters, pricing math, and runnable code, go straight to the tutorial; for everything new in 1.1 — 40-second scene extension, first/last frame control, 360p drafts, 4K upscaling — see the 1.1 announcement breakdown.

Key Takeaways

  • Generally available since August 27, 2026 as Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash — model ID gemini-omni-1.1-flash, via Google AI Studio, the Gemini API, and the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform.
  • ~$0.10 per second of 720p output — a 10-second clip is about $1.00, matching Veo 3.1 Fast. New in 1.1: a 360p draft tier at roughly one-third the cost.
  • The route took three-plus months. Announced May 19 at I/O, consumer-only for six weeks, public preview June 30, GA August 27.
  • 720p native, 1080p/4K via upscaling, up to 40 seconds via scene extension — 1.1 closed most of the preview's resolution and length gaps.
  • Conversational editing is the real differentiator — the workflow, not raw pixel quality, is where Omni leads.
  • Want the code? The model ID, parameters, pricing table, and working examples live in the API tutorial. This post covers status, history, and positioning.

The status on August 28, 2026

Here is the precise state of play, stripped of hype:

  • Announced: May 19, 2026, at Google I/O; developer API in public preview June 30, 2026; Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash GA on August 27, 2026.
  • Consumer rollout: Global, to Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers via the Gemini app and Google Flow, plus no-cost generation in YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create app. Google's video generation overview now positions Omni as the model replacing Veo 3.1 in the Gemini app.
  • Model ID: gemini-omni-1.1-flash (GA). The legacy preview string gemini-omni-flash-preview still works at the same price.
  • Pricing: ~$0.10 per second of 720p output ($17.50 per 1M video output tokens at 5,792 tokens/second). A 10-second clip costs about $1.00; 360p drafts run about a third of that.
  • Output: 3–10-second base clips at 720p, extendable to 40 seconds via scene extension; 1080p and 4K available through upscaling.
  • Avatar mode: Now shipping — an avatar feature is flagged "New" on Google's overview page for the Gemini app, ending the safety hold that kept it out of the preview.

If you searched "Gemini Omni Flash API" for a model string and a price-per-second: gemini-omni-1.1-flash at ~$0.10/sec, generally available. For the setup steps and runnable code, see the Gemini Omni Flash API tutorial.

What "public preview" actually meant

With 1.1 GA, this now applies only to the legacy gemini-omni-flash-preview string — but it's worth keeping on record, because the next Google model will walk the same stages. Public preview is a real, callable API — but it is not general availability, and the difference matters for anything you're shipping to users:

  • The model string carries a -preview suffix, Google's standard signal that parameters, quotas, and behavior can change before GA.
  • Quotas are conservative. Preview-tier rate limits aren't published on the pricing page; check your AI Studio project's quota panel before load-testing.
  • Breaking changes are fair game. A parameter rename or a default change can land without a long deprecation window.

The practical takeaway aged well: everyone who isolated the model call behind their own interface is migrating to gemini-omni-1.1-flash with a config change. If you're still on the preview string, that's the move now — see the 1.1 migration notes.

The road from "coming weeks" to public preview

For six weeks after the May 19 debut, Omni Flash was consumer-only and Google's line never budged from "coming weeks" — no model ID, no waitlist, a blank pricing row. That's the window this post originally documented, skeptically. On June 30, 2026, Google's launch post closed it: Omni Flash entered public preview in AI Studio and the Gemini API, alongside the generally available Nano Banana 2 Lite image model. "Coming weeks" turned out to mean about six.

The lesson holds for the next Google model launch: consumer access can ship months before a callable API, and "coming weeks" is a range, not a date. Treat a published model ID and price — not a keynote — as the signal to integrate.

What shipped: the launch feature set

  • 10-second clips, synchronized audio, conversational editing, SynthID watermark — the core capability set, now callable.
  • Text, image, and short-video inputs. Video references are capped at 3 seconds in the preview.
  • Conversational editing via the Interactions API. You chain requests to refine a clip across turns instead of re-rolling it — the mechanics are in the tutorial and the conversational editing guide.
  • Avatar mode held back for safety review at launch; it finally shipped with the 1.1 rollout in the Gemini app.

How Omni Flash actually stacks up

Enough time has passed for the early-adopter dust to settle, and the picture is more nuanced than the launch-day demos suggested. Here's the honest read.

On raw generation quality, Omni Flash is not the leader. On the Artificial Analysis Video Arena leaderboard, ByteDance's Seedance 2.0 sits first in both text-to-video and image-to-video, ahead of Kling 3.0, Veo 3.1, and the now-deprecated Sora 2. Multiple creator assessments place Omni's pure pixel quality behind Seedance and Kling. If you only care about the single most photoreal 5-second clip, Omni is not automatically your pick — native generation is still 720p, with 1080p/4K arriving as an upscale pass in 1.1.

On workflow, Omni Flash leads. Where Omni wins is the thing the leaderboards don't score: conversational editing and multimodal input in a single generation call. You describe a change in plain language — "warm the light, pull the camera back" — and the previous frames anchor the edit instead of you rewriting a full prompt and rolling the dice. For iterative, multi-shot work, that's a categorical advantage. We covered the mechanics in Conversational video editing with Gemini Omni Flash.

So the verdict is split by job:

  • Single hero shot, maximum fidelity: Seedance 2.0 or Kling 3.0 today.
  • Iterative, directed, multi-shot work: Omni Flash's editing loop, now that you can call it.
  • Narrative scenes needing native high-resolution generation: Veo 3.1 still renders 1080p/4K natively, though 1.1's upscaling narrows the gap — and Google itself is replacing Veo with Omni in the Gemini app.

This isn't a knock on Omni — it's a young model whose differentiator is the workflow, not the benchmark, and 1.1's control features (first/last frame, scene extension, video references) double down on exactly that. Pick your tool for the job in front of you, not the keynote.

Ready to build? Start with the tutorial

If you want to wire Omni Flash into a product, the companion post has everything this one deliberately leaves out: the model ID, the parameter table, the pricing math, the current limits, and working Python, JavaScript, and curl for text-to-video, image-to-video, and multi-turn editing.

And if you'd rather not write integration code against a preview API at all, an independent platform like Omni Flash gives you an Omni-era generation and conversational-editing workflow in the browser — prompt, generate, refine — with no API key, SDK setup, or preview churn to manage.

FAQ

Is the Gemini Omni Flash API available right now?

Yes — generally available since August 27, 2026, as Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash, through Google AI Studio, the Gemini API, and the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. Consumer access through the Gemini app, Google Flow, and YouTube is live too.

Is the Gemini Omni Flash API generally available (GA)?

Yes, since August 27, 2026. The GA model ID is gemini-omni-1.1-flash — no -preview suffix — and Google's pricing page marks it Generally Available. The 1.0 preview string (gemini-omni-flash-preview) spent June 30 to August 27 in public preview and still works, but new integrations should target 1.1.

How much does the Gemini Omni Flash API cost?

About $0.10 per second of 720p output ($17.50 per 1M video output tokens at 5,792 tokens/second), so a 10-second clip is about $1.00 — the same rate as Veo 3.1 Fast. New in 1.1: 360p drafts at roughly one-third the cost. Conversational-edit turns bill at the same per-second rate because each turn renders new output. The full cost breakdown and a per-length table are in the API tutorial.

What is the Gemini Omni Flash model ID?

gemini-omni-1.1-flash (GA). The legacy preview string is gemini-omni-flash-preview. Both run on the Interactions API rather than Veo's generate_videos pattern. See the tutorial for setup and runnable examples.

Can I use Gemini Omni Flash without the API?

Yes. It's live in the Gemini app and Google Flow for AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers, and free inside YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create app. That's enough to prototype, learn the model, and run real production work without touching code.

Is Omni Flash better than Seedance 2.0 or Kling 3.0?

It depends on the job. On raw video quality, Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0 currently rank ahead on the Artificial Analysis leaderboard. Omni Flash's edge is its conversational editing and multimodal workflow, which the benchmarks don't measure. For a single high-fidelity shot, reach for Seedance or Kling; for iterative multi-shot direction, Omni's editing loop is the differentiator. See our Gemini Omni Flash alternatives roundup for the full field.

What is avatar mode, and is it available?

Avatar mode lets you record your own voice and likeness to generate videos that look and sound like you. Google demoed it in May, then held it back through the preview months over deepfake and consent concerns. With the 1.1 rollout it's now flagged "New" on Google's video generation overview as a Gemini app feature.

Should I build on Sora 2 instead?

No — Sora is shutting down. OpenAI discontinued the Sora app and web experience on April 26, 2026, and the Sora 2 API shuts down on September 24, 2026. Building a new integration on a deprecated model with a hard end-of-life date isn't worth it. See Gemini Omni Flash vs Sora 2 for the comparison.

Is Omni Flash affiliated with Google?

No. Omni Flash is an independent platform built for the Gemini Omni era. It is not affiliated with Google. Gemini, Gemini Omni, Omni Flash, Veo, Sora, Seedance, Kling, and related names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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