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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemma 3 12B IT vs Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct

Gemma 3 12B IT comes out ahead, 57 to 46 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    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

  2. Meta

    Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct

    Released Dec 6, 2024

    46/100
    • ECI127.3
    • Price$0.59 / $0.724
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma 3 12B IT is our pick

Gemma 3 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct (46). It leads on price and inputs & features. Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityLlama-3.3-70B-InstructCapabilities Index (ECI): Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct 127.3 · Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5
  • Lowest priceGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT $0.075 · Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct $0.624 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT 131,072 · Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT: Text, Images · Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemma 3 12B ITLlama-3.3-70B-Instruct
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%4549
Price25%10060
Inputs & features15%5025
Context window10%2424
Overall100%57/10046/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Gemma 3 12B IT vs Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationGemma 3 12B ITGoogleLlama-3.3-70B-InstructMeta
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)123.5127.3 (best)
ECI rank#138 of 148#133 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions39.5%47.4% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics16.7% (best)5.1%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.59
Output$0.15 (best)$0.724
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.075 (best)$0.624
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 7 providersMedian of 21 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)4,096 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—llama-3.3-70b-instruct
API providers724 (best)
ReleasedMar 12, 2025Dec 6, 2024
Knowledge cutoffAug 2024Dec 2023
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.

  • Gemma 3 12B IT$0.80
  • Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct$7.35
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemma 3 12B IT or Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct?

Gemma 3 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct (46). It leads on price and inputs & features. Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 12B IT or Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct?

Gemma 3 12B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct costs $0.59 input / $0.724 output per million tokens (median across 21 API providers; free on Llama). 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 $0.624 for Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct (8.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct 127.3 (#133 of 148) and Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5 (#138 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (122.5–129.5 vs 115.6–129.3), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct 47.4%, Gemma 3 12B IT 39.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 3 12B IT 16.7%, Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct 5.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 3 12B IT and Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct 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?

Gemma 3 12B IT has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct. Maximum output per response: Gemma 3 12B IT up to 131,072, Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemma 3 12B IT accepts text and images; Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct accepts text. Gemma 3 12B IT handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Gemma 3 12B IT is the newest, released Mar 12, 2025. Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct came out Dec 6, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 3 12B IT Aug 2024, Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct Dec 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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