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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemma 3 12B IT

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 71 to 57 on our weighted score, though Gemma 3 12B IT is 2.3× cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    71/100
    • ECI133.9
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  2. Google

    Gemma 3 12B IT

    Released Mar 12, 2025

    57/100
    • ECI123.5
    • Price$0.05 / $0.15
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 3 12B IT

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Gemma 3 12B IT (57). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Gemma 3 12B IT wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 133.9 · Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5
  • Lowest priceGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT $0.075 · 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 · 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
  • Self-hostingGemma 3 12B ITPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemma 3 12B IT
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5845
Price25%86100
Inputs & features15%10050
Context window10%6124
Overall100%71/10057/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemma 3 12B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogleGemma 3 12B ITGoogle
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%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—16.7%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10$0.05 (best)
Output$0.40$0.15 (best)
Cached input$0.01—
Blended (3:1)$0.175$0.075 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIMedian of 7 providers
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgemini-2.5-flash-lite—
API providers20 (best)7
ReleasedJun 17, 2025Mar 12, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJan 2025Aug 2024
03 — Cost

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
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or Gemma 3 12B IT?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Gemma 3 12B IT (57). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. Gemma 3 12B IT wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or Gemma 3 12B IT?

Gemma 3 12B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). 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 $0.175 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite (2.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 133.9 (#118 of 148) and Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5 (#138 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (129.8–136.3 vs 115.6–129.3), so the gap is a real one.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and Gemma 3 12B IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both 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 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 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. 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 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. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025, Gemma 3 12B IT Aug 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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