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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-4o mini vs Gemma 3 12B IT

Too close to call on our weighted score (Gemma 3 12B IT 57, GPT-4o mini 56). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-4o mini

    Released Jul 18, 2024

    56/100
    • ECI126.6
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove GPT-4o mini

  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

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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Gemma 3 12B IT 57/100, GPT-4o mini 56/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-4o mini for raw capability, Gemma 3 12B IT on price and Gemma 3 12B IT for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-4o miniCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4o mini 126.6 · Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5
  • Lowest priceGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT $0.075 · GPT-4o mini $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT 131,072 · GPT-4o mini 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4o miniGPT-4o mini: Text, Images, PDFs · Gemma 3 12B IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingGemma 3 12B ITPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-4o miniGemma 3 12B IT
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%4945
Price25%77100
Inputs & features15%7050
Context window10%2424
Overall100%56/10057/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-4o mini vs Gemma 3 12B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-4o miniOpenAIGemma 3 12B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)126.6 (best)123.5
ECI rank#135 of 148 (best)#138 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions37.7%39.5% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics0.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics6.9%16.7% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions8.3%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15$0.05 (best)
Output$0.60$0.15 (best)
Cached input$0.075—
Blended (3:1)$0.263$0.075 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIMedian of 7 providers
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-4o-mini—
API providers21 (best)7
ReleasedJul 18, 2024Mar 12, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 2023Aug 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.

  • GPT-4o mini$2.70
  • Gemma 3 12B IT$0.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-4o mini or Gemma 3 12B IT?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Gemma 3 12B IT 57/100, GPT-4o mini 56/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-4o mini for raw capability, Gemma 3 12B IT on price and Gemma 3 12B IT for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-4o mini 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). GPT-4o mini costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI 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 $0.263 for GPT-4o mini (3.5× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-4o mini scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-4o mini 126.6 (#135 of 148) and Gemma 3 12B IT 123.5 (#138 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (120.5–128.5 vs 115.6–129.3), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemma 3 12B IT 39.5%, GPT-4o mini 37.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 3 12B IT 16.7%, GPT-4o mini 6.9%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4o mini and Gemma 3 12B IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-4o mini 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 GPT-4o mini. Maximum output per response: GPT-4o mini up to 16,384, Gemma 3 12B IT up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-4o mini accepts text, images and PDFs; Gemma 3 12B IT accepts text and images. GPT-4o mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Gemma 3 12B IT publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4o mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemma 3 12B IT is the newest, released Mar 12, 2025. GPT-4o mini came out Jul 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4o mini Sep 2023, 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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