Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Gemini 4 Hydrogen

Cohere Chat API (Command models) 67

Hosted lines. status.cohere.com (incident.io) lists each Command model and the endpoints as components (20). Its feed, read on 2 November 2026, shows two incidents in the 90 days from 4 August. 'Multiple Endpoint Disruptions' on 1 September 2026, from 15:41 to 19:47 UTC, degraded the embeddings endpoint, embed-v4.0, two rerank models and command-a-reasoning-08-2025 during a Google Cloud outage, rated minor and partial, and docs loading failed on 5 August. Nothing has been posted since 1 September, so minor incidents only (20). Chat limits are published per model, 20 requests a minute and 1,000 calls a month on a trial key and 500 a minute on a production key for Command A, R, R+ and R7B, while the four newest variants say contact sales (12 of 15). The errors page documents 429 with example messages that say to wait and try again later and links to the rate limits, with no Retry-After header, backoff timing or idempotency key, the reading cohere-embed takes of the same page (8 of 15). cohere.com/slo is titled Service Level Objective and its text is script-drawn, so it was unread and scores as absent (0). The v2 chat endpoint is the default docs version, but the sample response on the chat guide still carries is_experimental and the newest models are not open to production keys (7 of 10).

Gemini 4 Hydrogen 45

Model reading for gemini-4-hydrogen on the Gemini API. Platform facts are the Gemini API listing's (gemini-api, re-read 1 November), carried over as RULES.md allows for a model on an already graded platform. Status page at aistudio.google.com/status with no readable components or history (10 of 20) and no readable incident record (5 of 30). Rate-limit tiers and spend limits published, per-model limits in AI Studio (5 of 15). Backoff guidance for 429 and 503 and SDK retries (15). No SLA (0). Google Cloud's release notes and model page call Hydrogen generally available, a short-term release, under the same model ID; the Gemini API pages read don't name a stage, so full marks rest on Cloud's statement (10, a judgement call; Carbon, with no stage stated anywhere, got 5). 10 + 5 + 5 + 15 + 0 + 10 = 45.

Cohere Chat API (Command models) 72

Model reading. Function calling with tool_choice REQUIRED or NONE and strict_tools, which the reference marks beta (17 of 20). response_format takes json_object or a JSON Schema, with limits documented and no support in RAG mode (13 of 15). The usage object reports cached_tokens, and no guide or price for prompt caching was found (5 of 15). Context is 256,000 tokens on Command A and Command A Reasoning and 128,000 on Command A+ (10 of 15). /v2/batches runs a batch from an uploaded dataset, with no price or discount found (6 of 10). Official SDKs for Python, TypeScript, Java and Go (10). Error messages are specific and readable, with no stable error codes (11 of 15).

Gemini 4 Hydrogen 90

Model reading for gemini-4-hydrogen on the Gemini API. Platform facts are the Gemini API listing's (gemini-api, re-read 1 November), carried over as RULES.md allows for a model on an already graded platform. Function calling, with forced calls by FunctionCallingConfig on the API (20). Structured output to a response_schema, listed as supported on the Cloud model page (13 of 15). Implicit caching on prefixes of 4,096 tokens or more with durable caching on by default and explicit caches not supported, per the Cloud model page; the announcement names no cached-input price (12 of 15). 1,048,576 tokens shared between input and output, with background long decode up to 1M (15). Batch at half price on the platform (10). Python and JavaScript SDKs, and an OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions surface (10). Error codes with backoff guidance (10 of 15). 20 + 13 + 12 + 15 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 90.

Cohere Chat API (Command models) 53

No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the OpenAPI file or the pricing page (0). The docs say Command models are billed per input and output token. The pricing page, read on 2 November 2026, now carries per-unit prices in its own page data, Command R at $0.15 input and $0.60 output and Command R7B at $0.0375 and $0.15 per million tokens, with Command R+ 08-2024 at $2.50 and $10.00 among legacy prices and Command A+ shown as free. No price is published for Command A, Reasoning, Vision or Translate, so the line takes 15 rather than the full 20 (15 of 20). A trial key is created at sign-up and is free with no card (20). Sign-up is in a browser, and a production key needs an Owner to complete a Go to Production form (0). Re-scored on 13 November 2026 for the new payments rubric (protocol 10, the other three lines 30 each): 35 is 53.

Gemini 4 Hydrogen 40

Model reading for gemini-4-hydrogen on the Gemini API. Platform facts are the Gemini API listing's (gemini-api, re-read 1 November), carried over as RULES.md allows for a model on an already graded platform. No machine payment protocol (0). Prices published in Google's announcement without a login, $1.50 input and $7.50 output per million tokens, flat across the window; the Gemini API pricing page, now at aistudio.google.com, is still to be read for Hydrogen's row (20). A free tier with no card: Google's announcement puts Hydrogen on all tiers of the Gemini API, and the free tier needs no billing account per the gemini-api listing; its limits for Hydrogen are on that pricing page (20). A Google account and AI Studio for a key (0). 0 + 20 + 20 + 0 = 40.

Cohere Chat API (Command models) 72

Model reading. The last dated release on the Chat endpoint is still North Small Translate on 9 September 2026, 54 days before this check. The last Command model is Command A+ on 20 May 2026. Rerank 5 (21 October) and Embed 5 (30 September) aren't chat changes, so we score the 90-day band (20 of 30). The deprecations page defines Active, Legacy, Deprecated and Shutdown and promises email notice, with no minimum notice period (6 of 12). No chat model was retired or announced for retirement in the last 90 days. The newest entry on the page is still two Aya models retired on 4 April 2026 (8 of 8). Dated changelog with four entries since 4 August (27 August, 9 September, 30 September, 21 October), one of them for a chat model (12 of 15). SDK issue replies not sampled (5 of 10). Python SDK 7.2.0 and 7.3.0, TypeScript 8.2.0 (19 October) and 8.3.0, and Go v2.20.0 tagged on 21 October 2026, Java at 1.12.0 (15). The Python SDK is generated from the OpenAPI file and has a CI workflow, whose runs we did not read (6 of 10).

Gemini 4 Hydrogen 85

Model reading for gemini-4-hydrogen on the Gemini API. Platform facts are the Gemini API listing's (gemini-api, re-read 1 November), carried over as RULES.md allows for a model on an already graded platform. Released on 12 November 2026, recorded in Google Cloud's release notes; the Gemini API changelog, last updated 30 October, has no entry for it yet (30). Google Cloud states a minimum of 45 days' notice before Hydrogen is retired, short and stated for Cloud only; the Gemini API's deprecations give earliest dates with no stated minimum (6 of 12). Shutdowns in the last 90 days kept to their table (4 of 8). Dated changelog (15). SDK replies not sampled (5 of 10). Current SDKs; the developer guide names the minimum google-genai, @google/genai, Go and Java versions (15). Runtimes stated (10). 30 + 6 + 4 + 15 + 5 + 15 + 10 = 85.

Cohere Chat API (Command models) 55

Model reading. Bearer keys of two kinds, trial and production. Team roles are Owner and User, only Owners delete production keys, and a production key is shown in full once. No scopes, expiry or per-model restriction was found (18 of 30). Paying customers can switch training off under Data Controls, which implies it is on until they do, trial keys fall under the website terms, and the SaaS agreement grants an irrevocable right to use API data to improve the services and share it with third parties (8 of 20). Logged prompts and generations are deleted after 30 days unless flagged, and zero data retention needs approval (12 of 15). The dashboard shows usage history, and no customer audit log was found (2 of 15). The trust centre lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 42001, UK Cyber Essentials, penetration tests on request and a responsible disclosure policy with a bug bounty, per the 9 October check. cohere.com/.well-known/security.txt still answers 404 on 2 November and no public advisories were found, so the line takes 15, as cohere-embed and cohere-north read the same programme (15 of 20).

Gemini 4 Hydrogen 50

Model reading for gemini-4-hydrogen on the Gemini API. Platform facts are the Gemini API listing's (gemini-api, re-read 1 November), carried over as RULES.md allows for a model on an already graded platform. Keys bound to a service account and restricted to the Gemini API, with no scopes and a token accepted in the URL (15 of 30, the platform's deduction). Hydrogen is on the free tier, where Google's terms say content is used to improve products and may be read by humans; paid-tier content isn't (10 of 20, the platform's reading; Carbon, paid tier only, got 15). Abuse retention has no number and new paid projects store requests by default since 26 October; Google's prompt-injection figure (2.3 times more resilient on Gray Swan's benchmark) is its own, and the model card says jailbreak resistance is still being improved (5 of 15). Request logs for billed projects (15). security.txt and a reward programme, no certification naming the API (5 of 20). 15 + 10 + 5 + 15 + 5 = 50.