# Gemma 3 12B vs Gemma 4 26B A4B IT

> Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.5 to 32.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 12B costs 1.9× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Gemma 4 26B A4B IT's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-3-12b-vs-gemma-4-26b-a4b-it
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 21

## Summary

- They share 21 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 3 12B scores higher in 0 categories and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Gemma 4 26B A4B IT leads 47.6 to 22.3.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025: 16.7% for Gemma 3 12B and 82.2% for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT.
- Gemma 3 12B is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.15 per million input/output tokens, against $0.09 / $0.30 for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT.
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 131K.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | Google |
| Noometry Index | 32.1 | 43.5 |
| Rank | 262 | 92 |
| Context | 131K | 262K |
| Input $/M | $0.05 | $0.09 |
| Output $/M | $0.15 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 3 12B: 31.7 (#280)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 39.0 (#164)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | 17.4% | 40% |
| LMArena Coding | 1281 | 1447 |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1359 |
| WeirdML | — | 35.2% |
| ALE-Bench | — | 927.17 |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Gemma 3 12B: 25.5 (#108)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 30.4% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 3 12B: 15.7 (#313)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 21.8 (#213)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| CritPt | 0% | 0% |
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | 6% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1309 | 1439 |
| DTBench | 48.8% | 74.9% |
| LMCA | 4.5% | 29.7% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 123.5 | 141.85 |

## Math

- Gemma 3 12B: 22.3 (#279)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 47.6 (#67)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 16.7% | 82.2% |
| LMArena Math | 1307 | 1470 |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 3 12B: 26.5 (#257)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 45.7 (#85)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 39.5% | 73.2% |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| LMArena Expert | 1248 | 1447 |

## Multimodal

- Gemma 3 12B: —
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 40.6 (#46)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1260 |
| MindCube | 46.7% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 3 12B: 45.7 (#165)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 53.1 (#71)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1318 | 1421 |
| LMArena Russian | 1335 | 1434 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1495 |
| LMArena French | — | 1460 |
| LMArena German | 1370 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1417 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 3 12B: 68.6 (#186)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 74.8 (#82)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1299 | 1420 |

## Long Context

- Gemma 3 12B: 40.0 (#162)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 43.6 (#91)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1317 | 1428 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 3 12B: 47.5 (#209)
- Gemma 4 26B A4B IT: 58.6 (#115)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1334 | 1434 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1331 | 1402 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1126 | 1305 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1334 | 1441 |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 3 12B better than Gemma 4 26B A4B IT?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.5 to 32.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 12B costs 1.9× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Gemma 4 26B A4B IT's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 12B or Gemma 4 26B A4B IT?

Gemma 3 12B is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens; Gemma 4 26B A4B IT lists at $0.09 and $0.30.

### Is Gemma 3 12B or Gemma 4 26B A4B IT better for coding?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT scores higher on coding benchmarks: 39.0 versus 31.7 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT does, with 262K tokens against 131K.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 3 12B and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT share?

21 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3 12B has 24 scored results on Noometry and Gemma 4 26B A4B IT has 28.