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Gemma 4 12B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Gemma 4 12B leads the LLM Stats Score 21.6 to 15.8.

Google · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Gemma 4 12B leads the overall LLM Stats Score 21.6 to 15.8, ranking #205 overall.

In the 5 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Gemma 4 12B wins 4; 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 4 12B

  • overall performance matters — it scores 21.6 and ranks #205 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 4 of 5 exact shared results
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped May 2026

Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.18/M input and $2.09/M output

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemma 4 12B
Google
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
21.6
#205
15.8
#250
Reasoning
22.5
#192
16.7
#236
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
4 of 5
1 of 5
Input price
— / M
$0.18 / M
Output price
— / M
$2.09 / M
Context window
—
262,144

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

3 shared
Index
Gemma 4 12B
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Math
18.3#193
18.8#190
Vision
10.9#131
10.6#134
Multimodal
16.9#96
13.2#119
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

15 reported for Gemma 4 12B · 50 for Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

5 shared

Gemma 4 12B outperforms in 4 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench v6, MathVision, MMMU-Pro), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU-Pro).

Gemma 4 12B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Oct 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

3.0B diff

Gemma 4 12B has 3.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking, making it 32.9% larger.

Google
Gemma 4 12B
12.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
9.0Bparameters
12.0B
Gemma 4 12B
9.0B
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking specifies input context (262,144 tokens). Only Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking specifies output context (262,144 tokens).

Google
Gemma 4 12B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Tue Oct 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Gemma 4 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking support multimodal inputs.

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

Gemma 4 12B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

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

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 4 12B was released on 2026-05-23, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Gemma 4 12B is 8 months newer than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.

Gemma 4 12B

May 23, 2026

5 months ago

8mo newer
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

1.1 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemma 4 12B has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-01-01, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking'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 Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking's cutoff date.

Gemma 4 12B

Jan 2025

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemma 4 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemma 4 12B
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 4 12B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.

Which is better, Gemma 4 12B or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Gemma 4 12B leads the LLM Stats Score 21.6 to 15.8. Gemma 4 12B is made by Google and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 4 12B compare to Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking in benchmarks?

Gemma 4 12B scores FLEURS: 93.1%, MMMLU: 83.4%, MathVision: 79.7%, GPQA: 78.8%, AIME 2026: 77.5%. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking scores DocVQAtest: 95.3%, ScreenSpot: 93.6%, MMLU-Redux: 88.8%, MMBench-V1.1: 87.5%, InfoVQAtest: 86.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 4 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Gemma 4 12B supports an unknown number of tokens and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemma 4 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (21.6 vs 15.8). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 4 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Gemma 4 12B is developed by Google and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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