Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemma 3 12B IT vs Qwen Turbo
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 85 to 72 and 70 on our weighted score, though Gemma 3 12B IT is 2.3× cheaper per token.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
85/100- ECI133.9
- Price$0.10 / $0.40
- Context1.05M
- Google
Gemma 3 12B IT
70/100- ECI123.5
- Price$0.05 / $0.15
- Context131K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Turbo
72/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.20
- Context1M
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Qwen Turbo (72) and Gemma 3 12B IT (70). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT $0.075 · Qwen Turbo $0.087 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Qwen Turbo 1,000,000 · Gemma 3 12B IT 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Gemma 3 12B IT: Text, Images · Qwen Turbo: Text
- Self-hostingGemma 3 12B ITPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite | Gemma 3 12B IT | Qwen Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 86 | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 100 | 50 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 24 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 85/100 | 70/100 | 72/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogle | Gemma 3 12B ITGoogle | Qwen TurboAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 133.9 (best) | 123.5 | — |
| ECI rank | #118 of 148 (best) | #138 of 148 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 39.5% | 41.8% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 16.7% (best) | 6.1% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.10 | $0.05 (best) | $0.05 (best) |
| Output | $0.40 | $0.15 (best) | $0.20 |
| Cached input | $0.01 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.175 | $0.075 (best) | $0.087 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Median of 7 providers | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gemini-2.5-flash-lite | — | qwen-turbo |
| API providers | 20 (best) | 7 | 3 |
| Released | Jun 17, 2025 | Mar 12, 2025 | Nov 1, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | Aug 2024 | Apr 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
- Gemma 3 12B IT$0.80
- Qwen Turbo$0.90
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Gemma 3 12B IT or Qwen Turbo?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Qwen Turbo (72) and Gemma 3 12B IT (70). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Gemma 3 12B IT or Qwen Turbo?
Gemma 3 12B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Qwen Turbo costs $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.075 per million tokens for Gemma 3 12B IT versus $0.087 for Qwen Turbo (1.2× as much) and $0.175 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite (2.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has an ECI of 133.9, Gemma 3 12B IT has an ECI of 123.5 and Qwen Turbo has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Gemma 3 12B IT and Qwen Turbo yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen Turbo and 131,072 for Gemma 3 12B IT. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536, Gemma 3 12B IT up to 131,072, Qwen Turbo up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Gemma 3 12B IT accepts text and images; Qwen Turbo accepts text. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Gemma 3 12B IT publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and Qwen Turbo is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the newest, released Jun 17, 2025. Gemma 3 12B IT came out Mar 12, 2025; Qwen Turbo came out Nov 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025, Gemma 3 12B IT Aug 2024, Qwen Turbo Apr 2024.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
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