Model Comparison

Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 26B-A4BWhich is better in 2026?

Gemma 4 26B-A4B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 26B-A4B — which is better?

Gemma 4 12B (by Google) and Gemma 4 26B-A4B (by Google) 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 4 12B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 4 26B-A4B is better at 11 benchmarks (AIME 2026, BIG-Bench Extra Hard, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, LiveCodeBench v6, MathVision, MedXpertQA, MMLU-Pro, MMMLU, MMMU-Pro, MRCR v2 (8-needle)). Gemma 4 26B-A4B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 4 12B if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2026

Choose Gemma 4 26B-A4B if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 11 of 11 shared benchmarks

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

11 benchmarks

Gemma 4 12B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 4 26B-A4B is better at 11 benchmarks (AIME 2026, BIG-Bench Extra Hard, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, LiveCodeBench v6, MathVision, MedXpertQA, MMLU-Pro, MMMLU, MMMU-Pro, MRCR v2 (8-needle)).

Gemma 4 26B-A4B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

13.2B diff

Gemma 4 26B-A4B has 13.2B more parameters than Gemma 4 12B, making it 110.7% larger.

Google
Gemma 4 12B
12.0Bparameters
Google
Gemma 4 26B-A4B
25.2Bparameters
12.0B
Gemma 4 12B
25.2B
Gemma 4 26B-A4B

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Gemma 4 26B-A4B specifies input context (262,144 tokens). Only Gemma 4 26B-A4B specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

Google
Gemma 4 12B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Google
Gemma 4 26B-A4B
Input262,144 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Gemma 4 12B and Gemma 4 26B-A4B support multimodal inputs.

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

Gemma 4 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Gemma 4 26B-A4B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under Apache 2.0.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

Gemma 4 12B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Gemma 4 26B-A4B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 4 12B was released on 2026-05-23, while Gemma 4 26B-A4B was released on 2026-04-02.

Gemma 4 12B is 2 months newer than Gemma 4 26B-A4B.

Gemma 4 12B

May 23, 2026

1 months ago

1mo newer
Gemma 4 26B-A4B

Apr 2, 2026

3 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Both models have the same knowledge cutoff date of 2025-01-01.

They should have similar awareness of historical events and information up to this date.

Gemma 4 12B

Jan 2025

Gemma 4 26B-A4B

Jan 2025

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Google

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

Google
Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Higher AIME 2026 score (88.3% vs 77.5%)
Higher BIG-Bench Extra Hard score (64.8% vs 53.0%)
Higher GPQA score (82.3% vs 78.8%)
Higher Humanity's Last Exam score (17.2% vs 5.2%)
Higher LiveCodeBench v6 score (77.1% vs 72.0%)
Higher MathVision score (82.4% vs 79.7%)
Higher MedXpertQA score (58.1% vs 48.7%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (82.6% vs 77.2%)
Higher MMMLU score (86.3% vs 83.4%)
Higher MMMU-Pro score (73.8% vs 69.1%)
Higher MRCR v2 (8-needle) score (44.1% vs 43.4%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemma 4 12B and Gemma 4 26B-A4B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemma 4 12B
✓ Preferred
Gemma 4 26B-A4B
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 4 12B
Google
Gemma 4 26B-A4B

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 26B-A4B.

Which is better, Gemma 4 12B or Gemma 4 26B-A4B?

Gemma 4 26B-A4B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 4 12B is made by Google and Gemma 4 26B-A4B is made by Google. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 4 12B compare to Gemma 4 26B-A4B in benchmarks?

Gemma 4 12B scores FLEURS: 93.1%, MMMLU: 83.4%, MathVision: 79.7%, GPQA: 78.8%, AIME 2026: 77.5%. Gemma 4 26B-A4B scores AIME 2026: 88.3%, MMMLU: 86.3%, t2-bench: 85.5%, MMLU-Pro: 82.6%, MathVision: 82.4%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 4 12B and Gemma 4 26B-A4B?

Gemma 4 12B supports an unknown number of tokens and Gemma 4 26B-A4B supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

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