Model Comparison

Claude 3 Sonnet vs Gemma 3 12B

Gemma 3 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 3 12B is 96.0x cheaper per token.

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

6 benchmarks

Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 3 12B is better at 6 benchmarks (BIG-Bench Hard, GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro).

Gemma 3 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Apr 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Gemma 3 12B costs less

For input processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 60.0x more expensive than Gemma 3 12B ($0.05/1M tokens).

For output processing, Claude 3 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 150.0x more expensive than Gemma 3 12B ($0.10/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Claude 3 Sonnet is more expensive than Gemma 3 12B.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Apr 08 2026 • llm-stats.com
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerAnthropic
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Input tokens$0.05
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerDeepinfra
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Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Claude 3 Sonnet accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Gemma 3 12B's 131,072 tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Gemma 3 12B is limited to 131,072 tokens.

Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Wed Apr 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Claude 3 Sonnet and Gemma 3 12B support multimodal inputs.

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

Claude 3 Sonnet

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Gemma 3 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude 3 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while Gemma 3 12B uses Gemma.

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

Claude 3 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Gemma 3 12B

Gemma

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while Gemma 3 12B was released on 2025-03-12.

Gemma 3 12B is 13 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Feb 29, 2024

2.1 years ago

Gemma 3 12B

Mar 12, 2025

1.1 years ago

1.0yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Claude 3 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. Gemma 3 12B is available from DeepInfra.

Claude 3 Sonnet

anthropic logo
Anthropic
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M
google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

Gemma 3 12B

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.05/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.10/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher BIG-Bench Hard score (85.7% vs 82.9%)
Higher GPQA score (40.9% vs 40.4%)
Higher GSM8k score (94.4% vs 92.3%)
Higher HumanEval score (85.4% vs 73.0%)
Higher MATH score (83.8% vs 43.1%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (60.6% vs 56.8%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Google
Gemma 3 12B

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Gemma 3 12B

Gemma 3 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3 Sonnet is made by Anthropic and Gemma 3 12B is made by Google. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
Claude 3 Sonnet scores ARC-C: 93.2%, GSM8k: 92.3%, HellaSwag: 89.0%, MGSM: 83.5%, BIG-Bench Hard: 82.9%. Gemma 3 12B scores GSM8k: 94.4%, IFEval: 88.9%, DocVQA: 87.1%, BIG-Bench Hard: 85.7%, HumanEval: 85.4%.
Gemma 3 12B is 60.0x cheaper for input tokens. Claude 3 Sonnet costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via anthropic. Gemma 3 12B costs $0.05/M input and $0.10/M output via deepinfra.
Claude 3 Sonnet supports 200K tokens and Gemma 3 12B supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (200K vs 131K), input pricing ($3.00 vs $0.05/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Gemma). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
Claude 3 Sonnet is developed by Anthropic and Gemma 3 12B is developed by Google.