Model Comparison

Gemma 3 12B vs Magistral Small 2506Which is better in 2026?

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 3 12B vs Magistral Small 2506 — which is better?

Gemma 3 12B (by Google) and Magistral Small 2506 (by Mistral AI) 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.

Gemma 3 12B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench). Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 3 12B if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.05/M input and $0.10/M output

Choose Magistral Small 2506 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Gemma 3 12B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench).

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

12.0B diff

Magistral Small 2506 has 12.0B more parameters than Gemma 3 12B, making it 100.0% larger.

Google
Gemma 3 12B
12.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
24.0Bparameters
12.0B
Gemma 3 12B
24.0B
Magistral Small 2506

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).

Google
Gemma 3 12B
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Gemma 3 12B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Magistral Small 2506 does not.

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

Gemma 3 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Magistral Small 2506

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3 12B is licensed under Gemma, while Magistral Small 2506 uses Apache 2.0.

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

Gemma 3 12B

Gemma

Open weights

Magistral Small 2506

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3 12B was released on 2025-03-12, while Magistral Small 2506 was released on 2025-06-10.

Magistral Small 2506 is 3 months newer than Gemma 3 12B.

Gemma 3 12B

Mar 12, 2025

1.4 years ago

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 10, 2025

1.1 years ago

3mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Magistral Small 2506 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-06-01, while Gemma 3 12B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Magistral Small 2506's training data extends to 2025-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Gemma 3 12B's cutoff date.

Gemma 3 12B

—

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 2025

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Google
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Mistral AI
Higher GPQA score (68.2% vs 40.9%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (51.3% vs 24.6%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemma 3 12B and Magistral Small 2506 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemma 3 12B
✓ Preferred
Magistral Small 2506
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3 12B vs Magistral Small 2506.

Which is better, Gemma 3 12B or Magistral Small 2506?

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 3 12B is made by Google and Magistral Small 2506 is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 3 12B compare to Magistral Small 2506 in benchmarks?

Gemma 3 12B scores GSM8k: 94.4%, IFEval: 88.9%, DocVQA: 87.1%, BIG-Bench Hard: 85.7%, HumanEval: 85.4%. Magistral Small 2506 scores AIME 2024: 70.7%, GPQA: 68.2%, AIME 2025: 62.8%, LiveCodeBench: 51.3%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3 12B and Magistral Small 2506?

Gemma 3 12B supports 131K tokens and Magistral Small 2506 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 Gemma 3 12B and Magistral Small 2506?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Gemma vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 3 12B and Magistral Small 2506?

Gemma 3 12B is developed by Google and Magistral Small 2506 is developed by Mistral AI.

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