Nova Lite 1.0 vs Gemma 3 12B
Updated October 21, 2026. 33 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Nova Lite 1.0 has the edge where the context window is larger, 300K against 131K tokens, and where what matters is LMArena Text: coding or LMArena Text: software and IT, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 33
- Nova Lite 1.0 only
- 8
- Gemma 3 12B only
- 8
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 of 9
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 leads, 6.7 against 3.8.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Gemma 3 12B has a AA Agentic Index result, 0.1.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemma 3 12B
Nova Lite 1.0 $0.0002, Gemma 3 12B $0.0002 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova Lite 1.0 not benchmarked, Gemma 3 12B not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Knowledge, 18.6 points apart on average over 5 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- LMArena Text: business and finance: Nova Lite 1.0 1219 against Gemma 3 12B 1376, 26.3 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova Lite 1.0 $0.24 against Gemma 3 12B $0.1625 per million output tokens, 1.5x apart.
- Context window
- Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens, Gemma 3 12B 131K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Nova Lite 1.0 | Bars | Gemma 3 12B | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1 | 2 | 1 tie | |
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 2 | 3 | ||
| Math | 0 | 4 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 5 | ||
| General | 1 | 12 | ||
| All shared boards | 6 | 26 | 1 tie |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index12
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 5.8 | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 16.7% | 13.7% | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| SciCode | Not measured | 16.4% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 0.8% | 0.8% | Tie |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1239 | 1281 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1241 | 1313 | Gemma 3 12B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 32 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 6.7 | 3.8 | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 123.5 | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 0.1 | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 17.5% | 10.8% | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index23
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 43.3% | 34.9% | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.3% | 4.2% | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 39.5% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1220 | 1309 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1201 | 1248 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1226 | 1318 | Gemma 3 12B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 7.0 | 18.3 | Gemma 3 12B |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 7.0% | 18.3% | Gemma 3 12B |
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 16.7% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1227 | 1307 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1235 | 1336 | Gemma 3 12B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index05
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 59.0% | 59.5% | Gemma 3 12B |
| MMLU | 77.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1232 | 1366 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1213 | 1334 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1238 | 1381 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1219 | 1376 | Gemma 3 12B |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index112
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 34.1% | 36.7% | Gemma 3 12B |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 19.0% | 8.3% | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| DTBench | Not measured | 48.8% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 4.5% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| LMArena Text | 1229 | 1334 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1205 | 1299 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1197 | 1331 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Vision | 990 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1243 | 1349 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1208 | 1318 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1225 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1229 | 1370 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1153 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1153 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1238 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1226 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1216 | 1335 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1199 | 1334 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1234 | 1317 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1211 | 1307 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1176 | 1297 | Gemma 3 12B |
| LMArena Vision: English | 999 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 24 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemma 3 12B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0 costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Amazon Nova Lite 1.0 | Google Gemma 3 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 5, 2024 | March 13, 2025 |
| Context window | 300K | 131K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.06 | $0.075 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.24 | $0.1625 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nova Lite 1.0 better than Gemma 3 12B for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Nova Lite 1.0 has the edge where the context window is larger, 300K against 131K tokens, and where what matters is LMArena Text: coding or LMArena Text: software and IT, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Nova Lite 1.0 or Gemma 3 12B?
Nova Lite 1.0 costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.24 per million output tokens; Gemma 3 12B costs $0.075 and $0.1625. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova Lite 1.0 or Gemma 3 12B?
Nova Lite 1.0, with 300K tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks is the Nova Lite 1.0 vs Gemma 3 12B comparison based on?
33 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Nova Lite 1.0's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Gemma 3 12B's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.