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Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct leads the LLM Stats Score 20.4 to 5.7.

Google · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct leads the overall LLM Stats Score 20.4 to 5.7, ranking #185 overall.

In the 6 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct wins 5; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

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

Choose Gemma 3 12B

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

Choose Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

  • overall performance matters — it scores 20.4 and ranks #185 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 5 of 6 exact shared results
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemma 3 12B
Google
Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
5.7
#284
20.4
#185
Reasoning
6.1
#277
19.4
#189
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
1 of 6
5 of 6
Input price
$0.05 / M
— / M
Output price
$0.10 / M
— / M
Context window
131,072
—

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

3 shared
Index
Gemma 3 12B
Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
Math
13.1#222
19.7#156
Vision
-3.8#193
15.6#86
Multimodal
-1.3#153
18.1#71
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

26 reported for Gemma 3 12B · 45 for Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

6 shared

Gemma 3 12B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (IFEval), while Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (AI2D, GPQA, MathVista-Mini, MMLU-Pro, MMMU (val)).

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Sep 06 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

21.0B diff

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct has 21.0B more parameters than Gemma 3 12B, making it 175.0% larger.

Google
Gemma 3 12B
12.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
33.0Bparameters
12.0B
Gemma 3 12B
33.0B
Qwen3 VL 32B 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
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sun Sep 06 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Gemma 3 12B and Qwen3 VL 32B 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

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3 12B is licensed under Gemma, while Qwen3 VL 32B 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

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3 12B was released on 2025-03-12, while Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct is 6 months newer than Gemma 3 12B.

Gemma 3 12B

Mar 12, 2025

1.5 years ago

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct

Sep 22, 2025

11 months ago

6mo 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→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemma 3 12B and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemma 3 12B
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 3 12B or Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct leads the LLM Stats Score 20.4 to 5.7. Gemma 3 12B is made by Google and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Gemma 3 12B compare to Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 3 12B scores GSM8k: 94.4%, IFEval: 88.9%, DocVQA: 87.1%, BIG-Bench Hard: 85.7%, HumanEval: 85.4%. Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 96.9%, ScreenSpot: 95.8%, CharXiv-D: 90.5%, MMLU-Redux: 89.8%, AI2D: 89.5%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3 12B and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

Gemma 3 12B supports 131K tokens and Qwen3 VL 32B 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 Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (5.7 vs 20.4), licensing (Gemma vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 3 12B and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct?

Gemma 3 12B is developed by Google and Qwen3 VL 32B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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