Gemma 3 12B IT vs Hermes 3 405B Instruct vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Gemma 3 12B IT comes out ahead, 69 to 62 and 29 on our weighted score, though Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is 17% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
GoogleGemma 3 12B IT
69/100- ECI123.5
- Price$0.05 / $0.15
- Context131K
Nous ResearchHermes 3 405B Instruct
29/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $1.00
- Context131K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
62/100- ECI118.5
- Price$0.05 / $0.10
- Context131K
Gemma 3 12B IT is our pick
Gemma 3 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (62) and Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29). 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 priceQwen2.5 7B InstructQwen2.5 7B Instruct $0.063 · Gemma 3 12B IT $0.075 · Hermes 3 405B Instruct $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameGemma 3 12B IT 131,072 · Hermes 3 405B Instruct 131,072 · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT: Text, Images · Hermes 3 405B Instruct: Text · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Gemma 3 12B IT | Hermes 3 405B Instruct | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 99 | 48 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 0 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 69/100 | 29/100 | 62/100 |
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 | Gemma 3 12B ITGoogle | Hermes 3 405B InstructNous Research | Qwen2.5 7B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 123.5 (best) | — | 118.5 |
| ECI rank | #151 of 165 (best) | — | #159 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 39.5% (best) | — | 35.5% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 16.7% (best) | — | 2.5% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.05 (best) | $1.00 | $0.05 (best) |
| Output | $0.15 | $1.00 | $0.10 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.075 | $1.00 | $0.063 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 12 providers | Median of 5 providers | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 13 (best) | 5 | 4 |
| Released | Mar 12, 2025 | Aug 16, 2024 | Sep 19, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemma 3 12B IT$0.80
- Hermes 3 405B Instruct$12.00
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct$0.70
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemma 3 12B IT, Hermes 3 405B Instruct or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
Gemma 3 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (62) and Hermes 3 405B Instruct (29). 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, Gemma 3 12B IT, Hermes 3 405B Instruct or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). Gemma 3 12B IT costs $0.05 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 12 API providers); Hermes 3 405B Instruct costs $1.00 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.063 per million tokens for Qwen2.5 7B Instruct versus $0.075 for Gemma 3 12B IT (1.2× as much) and $1.00 for Hermes 3 405B Instruct (16× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemma 3 12B IT has an ECI of 123.5, Hermes 3 405B Instruct has not been scored yet and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct has an ECI of 118.5.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 3 12B IT, Hermes 3 405B Instruct and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Hermes 3 405B Instruct does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemma 3 12B IT, Hermes 3 405B Instruct and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct share the same 131,072-token context window. Maximum output per response: Gemma 3 12B IT up to 131,072, Hermes 3 405B Instruct up to 16,384, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemma 3 12B IT accepts text and images; Hermes 3 405B Instruct accepts text; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct accepts text. Gemma 3 12B IT handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Gemma 3 12B IT is the newest, released Mar 12, 2025. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct came out Sep 19, 2024; Hermes 3 405B Instruct came out Aug 16, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 3 12B IT Aug 2024, Hermes 3 405B Instruct Dec 31, 2023.
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 Nov 2, 2026.
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