Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Gemma 3 12B
Gemma 3 12B costs 9.2x less per output token than Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite ($0.1625 vs $1.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 12 benchmarks have a result for both.
Gemini 3.1 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 3.1 Flash Lite for a larger context window (1.05M against 131K tokens).
- Shared results
- 12
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite only
- 4
- Gemma 3 12B only
- 31
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 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
No call
Only Gemma 3 12B has a AA Intelligence Index result, 3.8.
Directional only
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
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemma 3 12B
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite $0.0010, Gemma 3 12B $0.0002 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite not benchmarked, Gemma 3 12B not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Math, 63.3 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- Long context reasoning (AA-LCR): Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 74.3% against Gemma 3 12B 8.3%, 66.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite $1.50 against Gemma 3 12B $0.1625 per million output tokens, 9.2x apart.
- Context window
- Gemini 3.1 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.
| Category | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Bars | Gemma 3 12B | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 2 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 3 | 0 | ||
| Math | 1 | 0 | ||
| General | 4 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 12 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index20
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 5.8 | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 13.7% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| SciCode | 43.4% | 16.4% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 24.2% | 0.8% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| WeirdML | 52.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite measured |
| 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 index10
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 3.8 | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 144.3 | 123.5 | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 0.1 | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 31.3% | 10.8% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| DeepResearch Bench | 37.3% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite measured |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard (BFCL) | Not measured | 30.4% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index30
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 82.2% | 34.9% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 17.2% | 4.2% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 81.8% | 39.5% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| 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 | 67.2% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 18.3 | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 18.3% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | 80.0% | 16.7% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 27.7% | Not measured | Only Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite 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 7 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 59.5% | Only Gemma 3 12B measured |
| 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 13 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 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
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Gemma 3 12B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 77.2% | 36.7% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 74.3% | 8.3% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| DTBench | 76.8% | 48.8% | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite |
| LMCA | 35.0% | 4.5% | Gemini 3.1 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 31 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 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
Gemma 3 12B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Gemma 3 12B costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
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.
| Specification | Google Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Google Gemma 3 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | ||
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | May 7, 2026 | March 13, 2025 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 131K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.25 | $0.075 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.50 | $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 3.1 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 3.1 Flash Lite for a larger context window (1.05M against 131K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or Gemma 3 12B?
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite costs $0.25 per million input tokens and $1.50 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 3.1 Flash Lite or Gemma 3 12B?
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks is the Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Gemma 3 12B comparison based on?
12 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Gemini 3.1 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.