# Gemma 3 12B vs Step 3.5 Flash

> Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 32.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 12B costs 2.0× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 3.5 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-3-12b-vs-step-3-5-flash
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 12

## Summary

- They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 3 12B scores higher in 0 categories and Step 3.5 Flash in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 42.6 to 22.3.
- Gemma 3 12B is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.15 per million input/output tokens, against $0.10 / $0.30 for Step 3.5 Flash.
- Step 3.5 Flash accepts more context: 256K tokens versus 131K.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 32.1 | 42.3 |
| Rank | 262 | 116 |
| Context | 131K | 256K |
| Input $/M | $0.05 | $0.10 |
| Output $/M | $0.15 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 3 12B: 31.7 (#280)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1281 | 1436 |
| SciCode | 17.4% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Gemma 3 12B: 25.5 (#108)
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 30.4% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 3 12B: 15.7 (#313)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1309 | 1411 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 28.4% |
| CritPt | 0% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | — |
| DTBench | 48.8% | — |
| LMCA | 4.5% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 123.5 | — |

## Math

- Gemma 3 12B: 22.3 (#279)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1307 | 1408 |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | — | 66.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 16.7% | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 3 12B: 26.5 (#257)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1248 | 1421 |
| GPQA Diamond | 39.5% | — |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 4.4% | — |

## Multimodal

- Gemma 3 12B: —
- Step 3.5 Flash: —

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| MindCube | 46.7% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 3 12B: 45.7 (#165)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1318 | 1385 |
| LMArena German | 1370 | 1405 |
| LMArena Russian | 1335 | 1385 |
| LMArena Chinese | — | 1447 |
| LMArena French | — | 1421 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1354 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1352 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1419 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 3 12B: 68.6 (#186)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1299 | 1385 |

## Long Context

- Gemma 3 12B: 40.0 (#162)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1317 | 1402 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 3 12B: 47.5 (#209)
- Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

| Benchmark | Gemma 3 12B | Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1334 | 1403 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1331 | 1357 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1334 | 1405 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1126 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 3 12B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 32.1 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 3 12B costs 2.0× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 3.5 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 12B or Step 3.5 Flash?

Gemma 3 12B is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens; Step 3.5 Flash lists at $0.10 and $0.30.

### Is Gemma 3 12B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 31.7 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Step 3.5 Flash does, with 256K tokens against 131K.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 3 12B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3 12B has 24 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.