Model Comparison

Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Gemma 4 12BWhich is better in 2026?

Gemma 4 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Gemma 4 12B — which is better?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and Gemma 4 12B (by Google) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 4 12B is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro). Gemma 4 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output

Choose Gemma 4 12B if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2026
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 4 12B is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro).

Gemma 4 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Claude 3.5 Sonnet specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only Claude 3.5 Sonnet specifies output context (200,000 tokens).

Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Google
Gemma 4 12B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sat Jul 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemma 4 12B support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Gemma 4 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude 3.5 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while Gemma 4 12B uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Gemma 4 12B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released on 2024-06-21, while Gemma 4 12B was released on 2026-05-23.

Gemma 4 12B is 23 months newer than Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Jun 21, 2024

2.1 years ago

Gemma 4 12B

May 23, 2026

2 months ago

1.9yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemma 4 12B has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-01, while Claude 3.5 Sonnet's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemma 4 12B's training data extends to 2025-01-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Claude 3.5 Sonnet's cutoff date.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet

—

Gemma 4 12B

Jan 2025

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Google
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (78.8% vs 59.4%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (77.2% vs 76.1%)
AnthropicClaude 3.5 Sonnet
GoogleGemma 4 12B
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemma 4 12B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Claude 3.5 Sonnet
✓ Preferred
Gemma 4 12B
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
Google
Gemma 4 12B

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs Gemma 4 12B.

Which is better, Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Gemma 4 12B?

Gemma 4 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3.5 Sonnet is made by Anthropic and Gemma 4 12B is made by Google. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude 3.5 Sonnet compare to Gemma 4 12B in benchmarks?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet scores GSM8k: 96.4%, BIG-Bench Hard: 93.1%, HumanEval: 92.0%, MGSM: 91.6%, MMLU: 90.4%. Gemma 4 12B scores FLEURS: 93.1%, MMMLU: 83.4%, MathVision: 79.7%, GPQA: 78.8%, AIME 2026: 77.5%.

What are the context window sizes for Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemma 4 12B?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet supports 200K tokens and Gemma 4 12B supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemma 4 12B?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemma 4 12B?

Claude 3.5 Sonnet is developed by Anthropic and Gemma 4 12B is developed by Google.

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