AI model comparison
Granite 4.0 Micro vs Gemma 3 12B
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
Granite-4.0-H-Micro is a 3B parameter from the Granite 4 family of models. These models are the latest in a series of models released by IBM.
- Input / 1M
- $0.02
- Output / 1M
- $0.11
- Context
- 131K
Gemma 3 12B
Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs.
- Input / 1M
- $0.05
- Output / 1M
- $0.15
- Context
- 131K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Granite 4.0 Micro
1.9x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Granite 4.0 Micro
5.1 vs 3.8 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Gemma 3 12B
131K vs 131K tokens
Newer release
Granite 4.0 Micro
Released October 20, 2025
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Granite 4.0 Micro5.1Gemma 3 12B3.8Coding index
Granite 4.0 MicroNot availableGemma 3 12B5.8Agentic index
Granite 4.0 MicroNot availableGemma 3 12B0.1Pricing
Granite 4.0 Micro vs Gemma 3 12B API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Granite 4.0 Micro | Gemma 3 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.02 | $0.05 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.11 | $0.15 |
| 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
Granite 4.0 Micro$0.09Gemma 3 12B$0.17Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Granite 4.0 Micro$0.96Gemma 3 12B$2.10Long document summary
150K in, 2K out
Granite 4.0 Micro$2.77Gemma 3 12B$7.80Specs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Granite 4.0 Micro | Gemma 3 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K tokens | 131K tokens |
| Max output | 118K tokens | 16K tokens |
| Input types | Text | Image, Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | Not available |
| Release date | October 20, 2025 | March 13, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Granite 4.0 Micro | Gemma 3 12B |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Not supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Not 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.
Granite 4.0 MicroView full model details- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Nova Micro 1.0
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Mistral Small 3
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Ministral 3 14B 2512
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Phi 4
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Ministral 3 8B 2512
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Ministral 3 3B 2512
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Gemma 3 4B
- Granite 4.0 Micro vs Llama 3.2 1B Instruct
Our take
Granite 4.0 Micro is 1.9x cheaper for a typical chat. Granite 4.0 Micro scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (5.1 vs 3.8). Gemma 3 12B has the larger context window (131K vs 131K 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 Granite 4.0 Micro or Gemma 3 12B cheaper?
Granite 4.0 Micro is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Granite 4.0 Micro costs $0.02 per 1M input tokens and $0.11 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, Granite 4.0 Micro or Gemma 3 12B?
Gemma 3 12B supports up to 131K tokens of context, compared with 131K for Granite 4.0 Micro.
Is Granite 4.0 Micro smarter than Gemma 3 12B?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Granite 4.0 Micro scores 5.1 and Gemma 3 12B scores 3.8, putting Granite 4.0 Micro ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Granite 4.0 Micro and Gemma 3 12B at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Granite 4.0 Micro and Gemma 3 12B answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Granite 4.0 Micro and Gemma 3 12B at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.