Model Comparison

Gemma 3 12B vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 3 12B vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct — which is better?

Gemma 3 12B (by Google) and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct (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 1 benchmarks (MATH), while Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (AI2D, ChartQA, DocVQA, GPQA, MMLU-Pro, SimpleQA). Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct 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 Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 7 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

7 benchmarks

Gemma 3 12B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MATH), while Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (AI2D, ChartQA, DocVQA, GPQA, MMLU-Pro, SimpleQA).

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jun 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

11.6B diff

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct has 11.6B more parameters than Gemma 3 12B, making it 96.7% larger.

Google
Gemma 3 12B
12.0Bparameters
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct
23.6Bparameters
12.0B
Gemma 3 12B
23.6B
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct

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
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Jun 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Gemma 3 12B and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct support multimodal inputs.

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

Gemma 3 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3 12B is licensed under Gemma, while Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct 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

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3 12B was released on 2025-03-12, while Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct was released on 2025-06-20.

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is 3 months newer than Gemma 3 12B.

Gemma 3 12B

Mar 12, 2025

1.3 years ago

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct

Jun 20, 2025

1.0 years ago

3mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-10-01, while Gemma 3 12B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-10-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Gemma 3 12B's cutoff date.

Gemma 3 12B

—

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct

Oct 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Google
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Higher MATH score (83.8% vs 69.4%)
Mistral AI
Higher AI2D score (92.9% vs 84.2%)
Higher ChartQA score (87.4% vs 75.7%)
Higher DocVQA score (94.9% vs 87.1%)
Higher GPQA score (46.1% vs 40.9%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (69.1% vs 60.6%)
Higher SimpleQA score (12.1% vs 6.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 3 12B
Mistral AI
Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3 12B vs Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 3 12B or Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct?

Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 3 12B is made by Google and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct 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 Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 3 12B scores GSM8k: 94.4%, IFEval: 88.9%, DocVQA: 87.1%, BIG-Bench Hard: 85.7%, HumanEval: 85.4%. Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct scores DocVQA: 94.9%, AI2D: 92.9%, HumanEval Plus: 92.9%, ChartQA: 87.4%, IF: 84.8%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3 12B and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct?

Gemma 3 12B supports 131K tokens and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct 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 Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct?

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

Who makes Gemma 3 12B and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct?

Gemma 3 12B is developed by Google and Mistral Small 3.2 24B Instruct is developed by Mistral AI.

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