Model comparison
Gemma 3 12B vs Muse Spark 1.2
Muse Spark 1.2 is the stronger model overall, scoring 50.3 to 32.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 12B costs 27× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Muse Spark 1.2's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
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MetaSummary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 3 12B scores higher in 0 categories and Muse Spark 1.2 in 9 categories; 9 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Muse Spark 1.2 leads 51.3 to 15.7.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is DTBench: 48.8% for Gemma 3 12B and 94.7% for Muse Spark 1.2.
- Gemma 3 12B is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.15 per million input/output tokens, against $1.25 / $4.25 for Muse Spark 1.2.
- Muse Spark 1.2 accepts more context: 1.05M tokens versus 131K.
- Gemma 3 12B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meta | |
| Noometry Index | 32.1 | 50.3 |
| Released | 2025-03-12 | 2026-08-05 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | 131K | 1.05M |
| Max output | 8K | 131K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.05 | $1.25 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $0.15 | $4.25 |
| Results tracked | 24 | 31 |
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Category by category
Coding Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 31.7 (#280), Muse Spark 1.2: 49.2 (#51)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | 17.4% | 56.4% |
| LMArena Coding | 1281 | 1495 |
| DeepSWE | — | 54.9% |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1533 |
| FrontierSWE | — | 12% |
| WeirdML | — | 60.3% |
Agentic & Tool Use Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 25.5 (#108), Muse Spark 1.2: 29.4 (#87)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | — | 36.4% |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 30.4% | — |
| GDP.pdf | — | 16% |
Reasoning Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 15.7 (#313), Muse Spark 1.2: 51.3 (#34)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| CritPt | 0% | 17.7% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1309 | 1486 |
| DTBench | 48.8% | 94.7% |
| LMCA | 4.5% | 48.4% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 123.5 | 154.87 |
| SimpleBench | — | 74.5% |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 79.2% |
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | — |
Math Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 22.3 (#279), Muse Spark 1.2: 46.4 (#70)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1307 | 1471 |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 16.7% | — |
| ProofBench | — | 43% |
Knowledge Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 26.5 (#257), Muse Spark 1.2: 54.1 (#53)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1248 | 1480 |
| GPQA Diamond | 39.5% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | — | 60.3% |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 4.4% | — |
Multimodal Not comparable
Gemma 3 12B: —, Muse Spark 1.2: 43.4 (#25)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1305 |
| MindCube | 46.7% | — |
Multilingual Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 45.7 (#165), Muse Spark 1.2: 57.1 (#11)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1318 | 1478 |
| LMArena Russian | 1335 | 1487 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1511 |
| LMArena French | — | 1513 |
| LMArena German | 1370 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1498 |
Instruction Following Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 68.6 (#186), Muse Spark 1.2: 76.7 (#36)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1299 | 1461 |
Long Context Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 40.0 (#162), Muse Spark 1.2: 45.2 (#48)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1317 | 1475 |
Writing & Preference Muse Spark 1.2 leads
Gemma 3 12B: 47.5 (#209), Muse Spark 1.2: 72.3 (#14)
| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1334 | 1482 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1331 | 1449 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1126 | 1840 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1334 | 1494 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Gemma 3 12B better than Muse Spark 1.2?
Muse Spark 1.2 is the stronger model overall, scoring 50.3 to 32.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 12B costs 27× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Muse Spark 1.2's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 12B or Muse Spark 1.2?
Gemma 3 12B is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens; Muse Spark 1.2 lists at $1.25 and $4.25.
Is Gemma 3 12B or Muse Spark 1.2 better for coding?
Muse Spark 1.2 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 49.2 versus 31.7 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Muse Spark 1.2 does, with 1.05M tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks do Gemma 3 12B and Muse Spark 1.2 share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3 12B has 24 scored results on Noometry and Muse Spark 1.2 has 31.