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Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Gemma 3 12B

Gemini 3.8 Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 51.3 to 5.8. Gemma 3 12B is 24.0x cheaper per token.

Google · Google · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Gemini 3.8 Flash leads the overall LLM Stats Score 51.3 to 5.8, ranking #14 overall.

On price, Gemma 3 12B is roughly 24.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Gemini 3.8 Flash also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Gemini 3.8 Flash

  • overall performance matters — it scores 51.3 and ranks #14 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2026

Choose Gemma 3 12B

  • cost matters — it's about 24.0x cheaper per token
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemini 3.8 Flash
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Google
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
51.3
#14
5.8
#283
Reasoning
47.2
#23
6.2
#276
Coding
39.9
#12
2.9
#213
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$0.75 / M
$0.05 / M
Output price
$3.75 / M
$0.10 / M
Context window
1,048,576
131,072

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

2 shared
Index
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Gemma 3 12B
Vision
34.0#12
-3.8#192
Multimodal
35.0#11
-1.3#152
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

13 reported for Gemini 3.8 Flash · 26 for Gemma 3 12B

No common benchmarks found

Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemma 3 12Bdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Gemma 3 12B costs less

For input processing, Gemini 3.8 Flash ($0.75/1M tokens) is 15.0x more expensive than Gemma 3 12B ($0.05/1M tokens).

For output processing, Gemini 3.8 Flash ($3.75/1M tokens) is 37.5x more expensive than Gemma 3 12B ($0.10/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Gemini 3.8 Flash is more expensive than Gemma 3 12B.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Sep 03 2026 • llm-stats.com
Google
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Input tokens$0.75
Output tokens$3.75
Best providerGoogle
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Input tokens$0.05
Output tokens$0.10
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Gemini 3.8 Flash accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Gemma 3 12B's 131,072 tokens. Gemma 3 12B can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Gemini 3.8 Flash is limited to 65,536 tokens.

Google
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Thu Sep 03 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemma 3 12B support multimodal inputs.

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

Gemini 3.8 Flash

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Gemma 3 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemini 3.8 Flash 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.

Gemini 3.8 Flash

Proprietary

Closed source

Gemma 3 12B

Gemma

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemini 3.8 Flash was released on 2026-09-02, while Gemma 3 12B was released on 2025-03-12.

Gemini 3.8 Flash is 18 months newer than Gemma 3 12B.

Gemini 3.8 Flash

Sep 2, 2026

0 days ago

1.5yr newer
Gemma 3 12B

Mar 12, 2025

1.5 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemini 3.8 Flash has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-03-31, while Gemma 3 12B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemini 3.8 Flash's training data extends to 2026-03-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Gemma 3 12B's cutoff date.

Gemini 3.8 Flash

Mar 2026

Gemma 3 12B

—

Provider Availability

Gemini 3.8 Flash is available from Google. Gemma 3 12B is available from DeepInfra.

Gemini 3.8 Flash

google logo
Google
Input Price:Input: $0.75/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.75/1M

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

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemma 3 12B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemini 3.8 Flash
✓ Preferred
Gemma 3 12B
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Gemma 3 12B.

Which is better, Gemini 3.8 Flash or Gemma 3 12B?

Gemini 3.8 Flash leads the LLM Stats Score 51.3 to 5.8. Gemini 3.8 Flash is made by Google and Gemma 3 12B is made by Google. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Gemini 3.8 Flash compare to Gemma 3 12B in benchmarks?

Gemini 3.8 Flash scores Terminal-Bench 2.1: 89.4%, LVBench: 87.1%, CharXiv-R: 86.2%, LABBench2: 86.2%, DeepSWE 1.1: 73.7%. Gemma 3 12B scores GSM8k: 94.4%, IFEval: 88.9%, DocVQA: 87.1%, BIG-Bench Hard: 85.7%, HumanEval: 85.4%.

Is Gemini 3.8 Flash cheaper than Gemma 3 12B?

Gemma 3 12B is 15.0x cheaper for input tokens. Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.75/M input and $3.75/M output via google. Gemma 3 12B costs $0.05/M input and $0.10/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemma 3 12B?

Gemini 3.8 Flash supports 1.0M 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 Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemma 3 12B?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (51.3 vs 5.8), context window (1.0M vs 131K), input pricing ($0.75 vs $0.05/M), licensing (Proprietary vs Gemma). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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