Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite vs Gemma 3 12B

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite leads Gemma 3 12B on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 10.4 to 3.8, and Gemma 3 12B costs 2.5x less per output token ($0.1625 vs $0.40 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 15 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Replace Gemma 3 12B

Gemini 2.5 Flash LiteGoogle

Coding: No data
Overall: No data
Output $/M: $0.40

Gemma 3 12BGoogle

Coding: No data
Overall: 28.0
Output $/M: $0.1625

vs boards won of 15 shared

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Gemma 3 12B: which to pick

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.

Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite for a larger context window (1.05M against 131K tokens).

Model AGemini 2.5 Flash LiteGoogleNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved task Model BGemma 3 12BGoogleNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved task

151528

Shared results: 15
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite only: 15
Gemma 3 12B only: 28
Like-for-like categories: 7 of 9

Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.

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
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite leads, 10.4 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
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a GPQA Diamond result, 70.2%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a AIME result, 42.1%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a MMLU Pro result, 79.1%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemma 3 12B
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.0003, Gemma 3 12B $0.0002 per turn.
List prices

At a glance

Coding index: Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite not benchmarked, Gemma 3 12B not benchmarked.
Widest category: Math, 35.0 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap: Long context reasoning (AA-LCR): Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 55.7% against Gemma 3 12B 8.3%, 47.3 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price: Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.40 against Gemma 3 12B $0.1625 per million output tokens, 2.5x apart.
Context window: Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M 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.

Boards won, where both have a result
Category	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Bars	Gemma 3 12B	Ties
Coding	2		0
Intelligence	2		0
Agentic work	2		0
Reasoning	2		0
Math	2		0
Knowledge	1		0
General	4		0
All shared boards	15		0

CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index20

Coding benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
AA Coding Index	Not measured	5.8	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)	71.4%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run)	59.3%	13.7%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
SciCode	Not measured	16.4%	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)	4.5%	0.8%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: coding	Not measured	1281	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: software and IT	Not measured	1313	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
SciCode	Not measured	0.0%	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 31 boards here

IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20

Intelligence benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
AA Intelligence Index	10.4	3.8	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Epoch Capabilities Index	133.8	123.5	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite

Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20

Agentic work benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
AA Agentic Index	Not measured	0.1	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
τ²-Bench Telecom	19.0%	10.8%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard (BFCL)	36.9%	30.4%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here

ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20

Reasoning benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
GPQA Diamond	70.2%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)	75.4%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)	62.5%	34.9%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)	6.8%	4.2%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)	Not measured	39.5%	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts	Not measured	1309	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: expert	Not measured	1248	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English	Not measured	1318	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
Kagi LLM Benchmark	40.5%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here

MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20

Math benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
AIME	42.1%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
MGSM (Vals AI)	89.5%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
AA Math Index	53.3	18.3	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run)	53.3%	18.3%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
OTIS Mock AIME	Not measured	16.7%	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: math	Not measured	1307	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: mathematical work	Not measured	1336	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here

KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10

Knowledge benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
MMLU Pro	79.1%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
LegalBench (Vals AI)	82.0%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)	57.6%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
TaxEval (Vals AI)	66.2%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
MortgageTax (Vals AI)	57.6%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
MedQA (Vals AI)	88.9%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
MedCode (Vals AI)	34.2%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run)	75.9%	59.5%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text: science	Not measured	1366	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare	Not measured	1334	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: legal and government	Not measured	1381	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: business and finance	Not measured	1376	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here

Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared

Web design benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
Neither model has a result on 9 boards here

GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index40

General benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Gemma 3 12B	Leader
SAGE (Vals AI)	30.8%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
MedScribe (Vals AI)	75.8%	Not measured	Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured
IFBench	49.9%	36.7%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)	55.7%	8.3%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
DTBench	62.8%	48.8%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
LMCA	18.1%	4.5%	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
LMArena Text	Not measured	1334	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: instruction following	Not measured	1299	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: creative writing	Not measured	1331	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: English	Not measured	1349	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: non-English	Not measured	1318	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: German	Not measured	1370	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: Russian	Not measured	1335	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: multi-turn	Not measured	1334	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: longer queries	Not measured	1317	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: writing and language	Not measured	1307	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
LMArena Text: entertainment and media	Not measured	1297	Only Gemma 3 12B measured
Neither model has a result on the other 29 boards here

Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared

Image generation benchmarks for Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Benchmark	Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	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

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite$0.0003Fits in one request

Gemma 3 12B$0.0002Fits in one request

Gemma 3 12B costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite$0.0062Fits in one request

Gemma 3 12B$0.0042Fits in one request

Gemma 3 12B costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite$0.024Fits in one request

Gemma 3 12B$0.017Exceeds the context window

Gemma 3 12B 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.

Specifications of Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite and Gemma 3 12B
Specification	Google Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite	Google Gemma 3 12B
Maker	Google	Google
Weights	No public weights listed	Open weights
Released	July 22, 2025	March 13, 2025
Context window	1.05M	131K
Input $/Mtok	$0.10	$0.075
Output $/Mtok	$0.40	$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 Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite better than Gemma 3 12B for coding?

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite for a larger context window (1.05M against 131K tokens).

Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Gemma 3 12B?

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.40 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Gemma 3 12B?

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 131K.

How many benchmarks is the Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite vs Gemma 3 12B comparison based on?

15 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite'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.

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite or Gemma 3 12B: which to pick

Which one for your work

Coding

Intelligence

Agentic work

Reasoning

Math

Knowledge

Long documents

Everyday cost

At a glance

Benchmark by benchmark

What each workload costs

Chat turn

Repository review

Agent loop

Specification differences

Questions

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