Gemma 3 12B
Google • LLM
Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs. It handles context windows up to 128k tokens, understands over 140 languages, and offers improved math, reasoning, and chat capabilities,...
Specifications
Context Window
131K tokens
Input Price/1M
$0.09
Output Price/1M
$0.29
Parameters
—
Max Output
16K tokens
Benchmarks
Gemma 3 12B results on the main AI model evaluation benchmarks. Higher scores indicate better performance.
Agentic
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench Hard | 1.0 | 100.0 | — |
Coding
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| SciCode | 17.0 | 100.0 | — |
| LiveCodeBench | 14.0 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
| AA Coding Index | 6.3 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
Knowledge
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 60.0 | 100.0 | — |
Long Context
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-LCR | 7.0 | 100.0 | — |
Math
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| MATH-500 | 85.3 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
| AA Math Index | 18.3 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
| AIME 2025 | 18.0 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
overall
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 8.8 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
Reasoning
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 59.5 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
| IFBench | 37.0 | 100.0 | — |
| GPQA Diamond | 35.0 | 100.0 | Artificial Analysis official API |
| HLE | 5.0 | 100.0 | — |
Tool Use
| Benchmark | Score | Maximum | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tau²-Bench | 11.0 | 100.0 | — |
Information
- Release date
- March 12, 2025
- Tool Calling
- ❌ Not supported
- Vision
- ✅ Supported
- Audio
- ❌ Not supported
Full Analysis: Gemma 3 12B
What is Gemma 3 12B?
Gemma 3 12B is an AI model developed by Google, classified as a large language model (LLM). It is a multimodal model, capable of processing text, images, and potentially other media types. As a proprietary model, it is available via Google's cloud API. With a context window of 131K tokens, it is suitable for processing long documents such as contracts, books, and complete codebases.
Pricing & Costs in 2026
Gemma 3 12B is usage-based, priced at $0.09/1M input tokens and $0.29/1M output tokens. For context: 1 million tokens is approximately 750,000 words, or about 10 average-length books. At this aggressive price point, it is one of the most cost-effective options on the market, ideal for high-volume applications like chatbots, bulk document analysis, and automation.
Benchmarks & Performance
Gemma 3 12B was evaluated on 15 different benchmarks, covering categories like Agentic, Coding, Knowledge, Long Context, Math, overall, Reasoning, Tool Use. Results show solid performance across available evaluations.
It's important to note that benchmarks measure specific aspects and don't capture the full user experience. Factors like instruction adherence, behavior in long conversations, and real-world task quality vary significantly between models and aren't always reflected in standard scores.
Recommended Use Cases
Gemma 3 12B is suitable for a wide range of AI applications: long document analysis (contracts, legal proceedings, codebases), image and visual document analysis (OCR, diagrams, screenshots), multimodal processing combining text and images, high-volume chatbots and automated support, text generation, summarization, translation, and general assistance.
Comparison with Alternatives
In the 2026 AI model ecosystem, Gemma 3 12B competes directly with similarly capable models. Key competitors include GPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), and open source models like Llama (Meta) and Qwen (Alibaba). The choice between models depends on the specific use case, budget, latency requirements, and need for features like multimodality and tool calling.
For a detailed side-by-side comparison, use our comparison tool or check the overall model ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Gemma 3 12B?
Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs. It handles context windows up to 128k tokens, understands over 140 languages, and offers improved math, reasoning, and chat capabilities,...
How much does Gemma 3 12B cost?
Gemma 3 12B costs $0.09/1M input tokens and $0.29/1M output tokens. For heavy usage (e.g., a chatbot handling 100k messages/month), costs can range from $10 to $1,000 depending on volume.
How does Gemma 3 12B compare with other models?
In available benchmarks, Gemma 3 12B scored: Terminal-Bench Hard: 1/100, SciCode: 17/100, LiveCodeBench: 14/100. See the full table above for a detailed comparison.
Is Gemma 3 12B open source?
No, Gemma 3 12B is a proprietary model from Google. It is available via cloud API. For open source alternatives, check our open source model ranking.
What is Gemma 3 12B best for?
Gemma 3 12B excels at multimodal tasks including text and vision. With its large context window, it handles long documents, codebases, and extended conversations.
Last updated: June 01, 2026 • View methodology →