# Gemma 3 12B vs Mistral Nemo

> Gemma 3 12B is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.1 to 26.4 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-3-12b-vs-mistral-nemo
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 5

## Summary

- They share 5 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 3 12B scores higher in 3 categories and Mistral Nemo in 2 categories; 5 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Gemma 3 12B leads 47.5 to 28.5.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is GPQA Diamond: 39.5% for Gemma 3 12B and 29.9% for Mistral Nemo.
- Gemma 3 12B is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.15 per million input/output tokens, against $0.15 / $0.15 for Mistral Nemo.
- Gemma 3 12B accepts more context: 131K tokens versus 128K.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | Mistral AI |
| Noometry Index | 32.1 | 26.4 |
| Rank | 262 | 337 |
| Context | 131K | 128K |
| Input $/M | $0.05 | $0.15 |
| Output $/M | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 3 12B: 31.7 (#280)
- Mistral Nemo: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | 17.4% | — |
| LMArena Coding | 1281 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Gemma 3 12B: 25.5 (#108)
- Mistral Nemo: 23.5 (#125)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 30.4% | 27.6% |
| BALROG | — | 17.6% |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 3 12B: 15.7 (#313)
- Mistral Nemo: 20.7 (#232)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| DTBench | 48.8% | 48.6% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 123.5 | 118.68 |
| CritPt | 0% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | — |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1309 | — |
| LMCA | 4.5% | — |
| PIQA | — | 83.5% |

## Math

- Gemma 3 12B: 22.3 (#279)
- Mistral Nemo: 25.5 (#268)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 16.7% | — |
| LMArena Math | 1307 | — |
| MATH Level 5 | — | 10.8% |
| GSM8K | — | 84.2% |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 3 12B: 26.5 (#257)
- Mistral Nemo: 12.3 (#298)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 39.5% | 29.9% |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 4.4% | — |
| LMArena Expert | 1248 | — |
| BoolQ | — | 82.5% |

## Multimodal

- Gemma 3 12B: —
- Mistral Nemo: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| MindCube | 46.7% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 3 12B: 45.7 (#165)
- Mistral Nemo: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1318 | — |
| LMArena German | 1370 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1335 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 3 12B: 68.6 (#186)
- Mistral Nemo: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1299 | — |

## Long Context

- Gemma 3 12B: 40.0 (#162)
- Mistral Nemo: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1317 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 3 12B: 47.5 (#209)
- Mistral Nemo: 28.5 (#296)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Mistral Nemo |
|---|---|---|
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1126 | 881 |
| LMArena Text | 1334 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1331 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1334 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 3 12B better than Mistral Nemo?

Gemma 3 12B is the stronger model overall, scoring 32.1 to 26.4 on the Noometry Index.

### Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 12B or Mistral Nemo?

Gemma 3 12B is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens; Mistral Nemo lists at $0.15 and $0.15.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Gemma 3 12B does, with 131K tokens against 128K.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 3 12B and Mistral Nemo share?

5 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3 12B has 24 scored results on Noometry and Mistral Nemo has 10.