AI model comparison
Gemma 3 12B vs Nova Micro 1.0
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
Amazon
Nova Micro 1.0
Amazon Nova Micro 1.0 is a text-only model that delivers the lowest latency responses in the Amazon Nova family of models at a very low cost.
- Input / 1M
- $0.04
- Output / 1M
- $0.14
- Context
- 128K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Nova Micro 1.0
1.2x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Nova Micro 1.0
5.9 vs 3.8 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Gemma 3 12B
131K vs 128K 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 12B3.8Nova Micro 1.05.9Coding index
Gemma 3 12B5.8Nova Micro 1.0Not availableAgentic index
Gemma 3 12B0.1Nova Micro 1.0Not availablePricing
Gemma 3 12B vs Nova Micro 1.0 API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Gemma 3 12B | Nova Micro 1.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.05 | $0.04 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.15 | $0.14 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
| 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$0.17Nova Micro 1.0$0.14Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Gemma 3 12B$2.10Nova Micro 1.0$1.61Long document summary
150K in, 2K out
Gemma 3 12B$7.80Nova Micro 1.0$5.53Specs
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 | Nova Micro 1.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | 16K tokens | 5K tokens |
| Input types | Image, Text | Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | Not available |
| Release date | March 13, 2025 | December 5, 2024 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Gemma 3 12B | Nova Micro 1.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Not supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Not supported |
| Reasoning | Not supported | Not supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Not 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.
Nova Micro 1.0View full model details- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Mistral Small 3
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Ministral 3 8B 2512
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Ministral 3 3B 2512
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Phi 4
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Ministral 3 14B 2512
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Nova Lite 1.0
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Granite 4.0 Micro
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Reka Flash 3
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Gemma 3 4B
- Nova Micro 1.0 vs Llama 3.2 1B Instruct
Our take
Nova Micro 1.0 is 1.2x cheaper for a typical chat. Nova Micro 1.0 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (5.9 vs 3.8). Gemma 3 12B has the larger context window (131K vs 128K tokens). 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 Nova Micro 1.0 cheaper?
Nova Micro 1.0 is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Nova Micro 1.0 costs $0.04 per 1M input tokens and $0.14 per 1M output tokens, while Gemma 3 12B costs $0.05 per 1M input tokens and $0.15 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Gemma 3 12B or Nova Micro 1.0?
Gemma 3 12B supports up to 131K tokens of context, compared with 128K for Nova Micro 1.0.
Is Gemma 3 12B smarter than Nova Micro 1.0?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Gemma 3 12B scores 3.8 and Nova Micro 1.0 scores 5.9, putting Nova Micro 1.0 ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Gemma 3 12B and Nova Micro 1.0 at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Gemma 3 12B and Nova Micro 1.0 answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Gemma 3 12B and Nova Micro 1.0 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.