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Gemma 3 12B vs o3 Mini

Updated October 21, 2026. 37 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.

Replace Gemma 3 12B Replace o3 Mini
Gemma 3 12BGoogle
Coding
No data
Overall
3.8
Output $/M
$0.1625
9
o3 MiniOpenAI
Coding
No data
Overall
12.5
Output $/M
$4.40
28
vs boards won of 37 shared

Decision reading

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

Gemma 3 12B has the edge where output tokens cost 27.1x less, and where what matters is LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) or SciCode, where it leads.

Model AGemma 3 12BGoogleNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved taskModel Bo3 MiniOpenAINot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved task
Shared results
37
Gemma 3 12B only
4
o3 Mini only
33
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.

At a glance

Coding index
Gemma 3 12B not benchmarked, o3 Mini not benchmarked.
Widest category
Math, 28.5 points apart on average over 3 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
OTIS Mock AIME: Gemma 3 12B 16.7% against o3 Mini 76.9%, 60.3 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Gemma 3 12B $0.1625 against o3 Mini $4.40 per million output tokens, 27.1x apart.
Context window
Gemma 3 12B takes 131K tokens, o3 Mini 200K.

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
CategoryGemma 3 12BBarso3 MiniTies
Coding05
Intelligence02
Agentic work01
Reasoning06
Math03
Knowledge41
General510
All shared boards928
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index05
Coding benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
Aider polyglotNot measured60.4%Only o3 Mini measured
SWE-bench VerifiedNot measured42.4%Only o3 Mini measured
SWE-bench LiteNot measured32.3%Only o3 Mini measured
AA Coding Index5.8Not measuredOnly Gemma 3 12B measured
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)Not measured71.5%Only o3 Mini measured
LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run)13.7%73.4%o3 Mini
SciCode16.4%42.8%o3 Mini
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)0.8%6.8%o3 Mini
GSO-BenchNot measured1.3%Only o3 Mini measured
WeirdMLNot measured43.7%Only o3 Mini measured
CybenchNot measured22.5%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: coding12811378o3 Mini
LMArena Text: software and IT13131364o3 Mini
Neither model has a result on the other 25 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
Intelligence benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
AA Intelligence Index3.812.5o3 Mini
Epoch Capabilities Index123.5140.2o3 Mini
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
Agentic work benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
AA Agentic Index0.1Not measuredOnly Gemma 3 12B measured
τ²-Bench Telecom10.8%31.3%o3 Mini
Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index06
Reasoning benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
GPQA DiamondNot measured75.5%Only o3 Mini measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)34.9%77.3%o3 Mini
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)4.2%12.0%o3 Mini
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)39.5%77.0%o3 Mini
ARC-AGINot measured34.5%Only o3 Mini measured
ARC-AGI-2Not measured3.0%Only o3 Mini measured
SimpleBenchNot measured22.8%Only o3 Mini measured
Chess puzzlesNot measured15.0%Only o3 Mini measured
Mystery game puzzlesNot measured7.0%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts13091365o3 Mini
LMArena Text: expert12481364o3 Mini
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English13181375o3 Mini
Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index03
Math benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
AIMENot measured86.5%Only o3 Mini measured
MATH 500 (Vals AI)Not measured91.8%Only o3 Mini measured
MGSM (Vals AI)Not measured91.3%Only o3 Mini measured
AA Math Index18.3Not measuredOnly Gemma 3 12B measured
AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run)18.3%Not measuredOnly Gemma 3 12B measured
OTIS Mock AIME16.7%76.9%o3 Mini
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3Not measured18.6%Only o3 Mini measured
FrontierMath, tier 4Not measured0.0%Only o3 Mini measured
MATH level 5Not measured96.5%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: math13071396o3 Mini
LMArena Text: mathematical work13361399o3 Mini
Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index41
Knowledge benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
MMLU ProNot measured78.7%Only o3 Mini measured
LegalBench (Vals AI)Not measured71.5%Only o3 Mini measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)Not measured45.3%Only o3 Mini measured
TaxEval (Vals AI)Not measured69.4%Only o3 Mini measured
MedQA (Vals AI)Not measured94.8%Only o3 Mini measured
MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run)59.5%80.2%o3 Mini
SimpleQA VerifiedNot measured15.3%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: science13661339Gemma 3 12B
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare13341330Gemma 3 12B
LMArena Text: legal and government13811328Gemma 3 12B
LMArena Text: business and finance13761313Gemma 3 12B
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 Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
Neither model has a result on 9 boards here
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index510
General benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
IFBench36.7%67.1%o3 Mini
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)8.3%43.0%o3 Mini
DTBench48.8%68.8%o3 Mini
LMCA4.5%19.0%o3 Mini
Fiction.LiveBenchNot measured50.0%Only o3 Mini measured
Creative writing (Lech Mazur)Not measured61.7%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text13341337o3 Mini
LMArena Text: instruction following12991337o3 Mini
LMArena Text: creative writing13311286Gemma 3 12B
LMArena Text: English13491351o3 Mini
LMArena Text: non-English13181319o3 Mini
LMArena Text: ChineseNot measured1379Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: German13701303Gemma 3 12B
LMArena Text: JapaneseNot measured1286Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: KoreanNot measured1313Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: FrenchNot measured1334Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: SpanishNot measured1321Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: Russian13351304Gemma 3 12B
LMArena Text: PolishNot measured1294Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: multi-turn13341320Gemma 3 12B
LMArena Text: longer queries13171343o3 Mini
LMArena Text: writing and language13071313o3 Mini
LMArena Text: entertainment and media12971283Gemma 3 12B
Neither model has a result on the other 23 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
BenchmarkGemma 3 12Bo3 MiniLeader
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$0.0002Fits in one request
o3 Mini$0.0033Fits in one request

Gemma 3 12B costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Gemma 3 12B$0.0042Fits in one request
o3 Mini$0.068Fits in one request

Gemma 3 12B costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Gemma 3 12B$0.017Exceeds the context window
o3 Mini$0.264Exceeds 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 Gemma 3 12B and o3 Mini
SpecificationGoogle Gemma 3 12BOpenAI o3 Mini
MakerGoogleOpenAI
WeightsOpen weightsNo public weights listed
ReleasedMarch 13, 2025January 31, 2025
Context window131K200K
Input $/Mtok$0.075$1.10
Output $/Mtok$0.1625$4.40
Coding indexNot benchmarkedNot benchmarked
Independent measurements behind it00
Cost per solved taskNot computableNot computable
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Gemma 3 12B better than o3 Mini for coding?

Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Gemma 3 12B has the edge where output tokens cost 27.1x less, and where what matters is LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) or SciCode, where it leads.

Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 12B or o3 Mini?

Gemma 3 12B costs $0.075 per million input tokens and $0.1625 per million output tokens; o3 Mini costs $1.10 and $4.40. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemma 3 12B or o3 Mini?

o3 Mini, with 200K tokens against 131K.

How many benchmarks is the Gemma 3 12B vs o3 Mini comparison based on?

37 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Gemma 3 12B's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and o3 Mini's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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