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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemma 3 12B IT vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

Gemma 3 12B IT comes out ahead, 57 to 50 on our weighted score, though Qwen2.5 7B Instruct is 17% cheaper per token.

  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. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

    Released Sep 19, 2024

    50/100
    • ECI118.5
    • Price$0.05 / $0.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen2.5 7B 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 Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (50). It leads on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemma 3 12B ITCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5 · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 118.5
  • Lowest priceQwen2.5 7B InstructQwen2.5 7B Instruct $0.063 · Gemma 3 12B IT $0.075 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameGemma 3 12B IT 131,072 · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT: Text, Images · Qwen2.5 7B 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 ITQwen2.5 7B Instruct
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%4438
Price25%99100
Inputs & features15%5025
Context window10%2525
Overall100%57/10050/100
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 Qwen2.5 7B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationGemma 3 12B ITGoogleQwen2.5 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 questions39.5% (best)35.5%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics16.7% (best)2.5%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05$0.05
Output$0.15$0.10 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.075$0.063 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 12 providersMedian of 3 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenApache 2.0
API model ID——
API providers13 (best)4
ReleasedMar 12, 2025Sep 19, 2024
Knowledge cutoffAug 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.

  • Gemma 3 12B IT$0.80
  • Qwen2.5 7B Instruct$0.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemma 3 12B IT or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?

Gemma 3 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (50). It leads on capability and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 12B IT 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). 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).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemma 3 12B IT scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5 (#151 of 165) and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 118.5 (#159 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (116.9–128.4 vs 110.6–121.2), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemma 3 12B IT 39.5%, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 35.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 3 12B IT 16.7%, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 2.5%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 3 12B IT and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemma 3 12B IT 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 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, 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; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct accepts text. Gemma 3 12B IT handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both 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. Knowledge cutoff: 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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