Model Comparison
Gemma 4 12B vs Kimi K3Which is better in 2026?
Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: Gemma 4 12B vs Kimi K3 — which is better?
Gemma 4 12B (by Google) and Kimi K3 (by Moonshot 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 4 12B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Kimi K3 is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, MathVision, MMMU-Pro). Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose Gemma 4 12B if…
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose Kimi K3 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 4 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Gemma 4 12B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Kimi K3 is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, MathVision, MMMU-Pro).
Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Kimi K3 has 2788.0B more parameters than Gemma 4 12B, making it 23311.9% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Kimi K3 specifies input context (1,048,576 tokens). Only Kimi K3 specifies output context (1,048,576 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Gemma 4 12B and Kimi K3 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Gemma 4 12B
Kimi K3
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Gemma 4 12B was released on 2026-05-23, while Kimi K3 was released on 2026-07-16.
Kimi K3 is 2 months newer than Gemma 4 12B.
May 23, 2026
1 months ago
Jul 16, 2026
1 days ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Gemma 4 12B has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-01, while Kimi K3's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Gemma 4 12B's training data extends to 2025-01-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Kimi K3's cutoff date.
Jan 2025
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Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Gemma 4 12B
View detailsNo standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
Kimi K3
View detailsMoonshot AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Gemma 4 12B and Kimi K3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Gemma 4 12B vs Kimi K3.