Model Comparison

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Gemma 3 12B

Gemma 3 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 3 12B is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench).

Gemma 3 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon May 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

10.2B diff

Gemma 3 12B has 10.2B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B, making it 574.2% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
1.8Bparameters
Google
Gemma 3 12B
12.0Bparameters
1.8B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
12.0B
Gemma 3 12B

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Gemma 3 12B specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Gemma 3 12B specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Mon May 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Gemma 3 12B supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B does not.

Gemma 3 12B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Gemma 3 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B is licensed under MIT, while Gemma 3 12B uses Gemma.

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

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

MIT

Open weights

Gemma 3 12B

Gemma

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B was released on 2025-01-20, while Gemma 3 12B was released on 2025-03-12.

Gemma 3 12B is 2 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B

Jan 20, 2025

1.3 years ago

Gemma 3 12B

Mar 12, 2025

1.1 years ago

1mo 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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion

Key Takeaways

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (40.9% vs 33.8%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (24.6% vs 16.9%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
Google
Gemma 3 12B

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Gemma 3 12B.

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B or Gemma 3 12B?

Gemma 3 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B is made by DeepSeek and Gemma 3 12B is made by Google. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B compare to Gemma 3 12B in benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B scores MATH-500: 83.9%, AIME 2024: 52.7%, GPQA: 33.8%, LiveCodeBench: 16.9%. Gemma 3 12B scores GSM8k: 94.4%, IFEval: 88.9%, DocVQA: 87.1%, BIG-Bench Hard: 85.7%, HumanEval: 85.4%.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Gemma 3 12B?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B supports an unknown number of tokens and Gemma 3 12B supports 131K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Gemma 3 12B?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Gemma). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Gemma 3 12B?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B is developed by DeepSeek and Gemma 3 12B is developed by Google.