# Gemini 4 Carbon

28 Hacker News commenters recommended Gemini 4 Carbon and 56 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended for benchmark results, speed and low introductory API pricing; the main caveat is limited access, so people cannot yet test it widely.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong benchmark results versus rivals (3 comments): "they're ahead of Fable 5.1 and GTP 6 Astra in 15 of the 17 benchmarks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50283977)) "the numbers presented in the announcement, which are pretty great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50286596)) "scores better in ~every test" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277931))
- Low or unchanged pricing (3 comments): "$2/$10 for input and output even if just for introductory pricing is an incredible deal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50276927)) "Carbon being significantly better while being the same cost is pretty exciting to me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50290008)) "more capable and same price" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277137))
- Generous usage on subscription (4 comments): "I have been using it on the $20 and still have 25% left" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50289746)) "it feels like Opus 5.5 (I do not think about limits)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50289110)) "not coming anywhere near hitting the limit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281556))
- Liked by heavy daily users (3 comments): "I use Carbon heavily and am quite happy with it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50278529)) "I have found it to be excellent for my tasks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50304173)) "Otherwise cool feature, I recommend." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50280174))

## What people warn about

- Not publicly available to most people (6 comments): "an announcement for a product that no one can actually try outside of a tiny circle of users" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277682)) "I'm not a fan of Google just announcing benchmarks for models which won't get into public hands for eternity. It's kinda useless." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50280749)) "the model is actually worth what they were saying on AA. It's just that it is not available to people" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50277567))
- Benchmarks unverifiable and possibly biased (4 comments): "I'm not a fan of Google just announcing benchmarks for models which won't get into public hands for eternity. It's kinda useless." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50280749)) "It's announced with trust me bro benches, no you can't verify it yourself, this might not even be the model you get." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50290198)) "their model itself is low quality and, if I'm being honest, has the promotion-oriented measurable-output bias" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50291976))
- Ignores instructions sometimes (2 comments): "I also found that it ignores other instructions sporadically" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50288917)) "It gets so stupid it's frustratingly useless when it does not follow instructions give just a few prompts back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50295888))
- Limits cut in subscription (2 comments): "the limits are dreadfully low" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50288524)) "They nerfed it heavily through the subscription, together with the UI and Pricing changes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50281169))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Claude Opus](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-opus.md): 3331 recommend
- [OpenAI GPT](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gpt-5-5.md): 1205 recommend
- [Claude Sonnet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-sonnet.md): 854 recommend
- [DeepSeek V4 Flash](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepseek-v4-flash.md): 828 recommend
- [Fable](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fable.md): 823 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Gemini 4 Carbon", https://hackerapproved.com/p/gemini-4-carbon/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).