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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen Turbo vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemma 3 12B IT

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 85 to 72 and 70 on our weighted score, though Gemma 3 12B IT is 2.3× cheaper per token.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen Turbo

    Released Nov 1, 2024

    72/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.05 / $0.20
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen Turbo
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    85/100
    • ECI133.9
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  3. Google

    Gemma 3 12B IT

    Released Mar 12, 2025

    70/100
    • ECI123.5
    • Price$0.05 / $0.15
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 3 12B IT
01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Qwen Turbo (72) and Gemma 3 12B IT (70). 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 priceGemma 3 12B ITGemma 3 12B IT $0.075 · Qwen Turbo $0.087 · 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 · Qwen Turbo 1,000,000 · Gemma 3 12B IT 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteQwen Turbo: Text · Gemini 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
MeasureWeightQwen TurboGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemma 3 12B IT
Price50%10086100
Inputs & features30%3510050
Context window20%606124
Overall100%72/10085/10070/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen Turbo vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Gemma 3 12B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen TurboAlibaba (Qwen)Gemini 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 questions41.8% (best)—39.5%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics6.1%—16.7% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.10$0.05 (best)
Output$0.20$0.40$0.15 (best)
Cached input—$0.01—
Blended (3:1)$0.087$0.175$0.075 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Google APIMedian of 7 providers
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens65,536 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoYesYes
PDFsNoYesNo
AudioNoYesNo
VideoNoYesNo
ReasoningYesYesNo
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryOpen
API model IDqwen-turbogemini-2.5-flash-lite—
API providers320 (best)7
ReleasedNov 1, 2024Jun 17, 2025Mar 12, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2024Jan 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.

  • Qwen Turbo$0.90
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
  • Gemma 3 12B IT$0.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

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

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Qwen Turbo (72) and Gemma 3 12B IT (70). 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, Qwen Turbo, 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). Qwen Turbo costs $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); 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 $0.087 for Qwen Turbo (1.2× as much) and $0.175 for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite (2.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen Turbo has not been scored yet, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has an ECI of 133.9 and Gemma 3 12B IT has an ECI of 123.5.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Turbo, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite and Gemma 3 12B IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three 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 1,000,000 for Qwen Turbo and 131,072 for Gemma 3 12B IT. Maximum output per response: Qwen Turbo up to 16,384, 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?

Qwen Turbo accepts text; 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; Qwen Turbo and 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; Qwen Turbo came out Nov 1, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Turbo Apr 2024, 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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