AI model comparison
Gemma 3 12B vs Gemma 3 27B
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
Gemma 3 12B
Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs.
- Input / 1M
- $0.05
- Output / 1M
- $0.15
- Context
- 131K
Gemma 3 27B
Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs.
- Input / 1M
- $0.08
- Output / 1M
- $0.45
- Context
- 131K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Gemma 3 12B
2.2x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Gemma 3 27B
4.9 vs 3.8 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Tie
131K vs 131K tokens
Newer release
Gemma 3 12B
Released March 13, 2025
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Gemma 3 12B3.8Gemma 3 27B4.9Coding index
Gemma 3 12B5.8Gemma 3 27B10.1Agentic index
Gemma 3 12B0.1Gemma 3 27B0.1Pricing
Gemma 3 12B vs Gemma 3 27B API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 3 27B |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.05 | $0.08 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.15 | $0.45 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | Not available | $0.04 |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
Gemma 3 12B$0.17Gemma 3 27B$0.39Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Gemma 3 12B$2.10Gemma 3 27B$4.20$3 cachedLong document summary
150K in, 2K out
Gemma 3 12B$7.80Gemma 3 27B$12.90$6.90 cachedSpecs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 3 27B |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K tokens | 131K tokens |
| Max output | 16K tokens | 118K tokens |
| Input types | Image, Text | Image, Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | Not available |
| Release date | March 13, 2025 | March 12, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Gemma 3 12B | Gemma 3 27B |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Not supported | Not supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
Gemma 3 27BView full model details- Gemma 3 27B vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
- Gemma 3 27B vs GPT-4o-mini
- Gemma 3 27B vs Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507
- Gemma 3 27B vs Llama 3.3 70B Instruct
- Gemma 3 27B vs GPT-4.1 Nano
- Gemma 3 27B vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
- Gemma 3 27B vs Hermes 3 70B Instruct
- Gemma 3 27B vs Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
- Gemma 3 27B vs Llama 3.2 3B Instruct
- Gemma 3 27B vs Gemma 3 4B
- Gemma 3 27B vs GPT-3.5 Turbo
- Gemma 3 27B vs Saba
- Gemma 3 27B vs Llama 3.2 1B Instruct
Our take
Gemma 3 12B is 2.2x cheaper for a typical chat. Gemma 3 27B scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (4.9 vs 3.8). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Gemma 3 12B or Gemma 3 27B cheaper?
Gemma 3 12B is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Gemma 3 12B costs $0.05 per 1M input tokens and $0.15 per 1M output tokens, while Gemma 3 27B costs $0.08 per 1M input tokens and $0.45 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Gemma 3 12B or Gemma 3 27B?
Gemma 3 12B supports up to 131K tokens of context, compared with 131K for Gemma 3 27B.
Is Gemma 3 12B smarter than Gemma 3 27B?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Gemma 3 12B scores 3.8 and Gemma 3 27B scores 4.9, putting Gemma 3 27B ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Gemma 3 12B and Gemma 3 27B at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Gemma 3 12B and Gemma 3 27B answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Gemma 3 12B and Gemma 3 27B at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.