Undominated.ai

Model comparison · accepted catalogue facts 2026-09-23

Gemma 3 12B vs Gemma 3 4B

Neither model has both an equal-or-higher measured score and an equal-or-lower estimated price in this pair. Retaining your current model is a valid outcome.

These models are adjacent on the default capability-price frontier. This is a direct pair comparison; global frontier membership is not its verdict.

Gemma 3 12B

LMArena general · Elo · higher is better

Scale starts at 1040 Elo

1334.2

Balanced effective USD / 1M tokens · lower is better

$0.075/M

Gemma 3 4B

LMArena general · Elo · higher is better

Scale starts at 1040 Elo

1290.7

Balanced effective USD / 1M tokens · lower is better

$0.063/M

Compare · model decision

Choose two or three models

Inspect the differences, estimate your workload and keep the evidence. All standard catalogue models are available, including unrated ones.

Catalogue facts
2026-09-23

2 / 3 selected · 0 requirements
Open public comparison link
Public workload and requirements

These settings are included in the share link. The fixed-request scenario and private evaluation data below are excluded.

A ↔ B

Neither model has both an equal-or-higher measured score and an equal-or-lower estimated price in this pair. Retaining your current model is a valid outcome.

Estimated blend: 75% input, 25% output; 0% cached input. Base context tier. Prompt length selects the billing tier. An unlisted cache-read rate uses that tier’s full input rate in this blend; missing required input or output rates prevent an estimate. The fixed-request estimate below validates actual context and output limits and requires a published cache-read rate when cache hits are assumed.

What changes between these models

Quality first, then estimated price. LMArena scores are human-preference measurements, not a benchmark of your application. A missing score is unrated.

  • Gemma 3 12B · Meets the stated model requirements
  • Gemma 3 4B · Meets the stated model requirements
Material differences and unknown evidence. Deltas compare each model with model A. Unknown facts remain visible.
Measured factA Gemma 3 12BB Gemma 3 4B
LMArena general score (Elo)1,334.21,290.7Δ vs A: -43.5 Elo
Score interval half-width (± Elo)9.389.23Δ vs A: -0.15 Elo
LMArena document score (Elo)UnknownUnknown
Estimated effective USD / 1M tokens$0.075$0.0625Δ vs A: -0.0125 USD/M
Base output USD / 1M tokens$0.15$0.1Δ vs A: -0.05 USD/M
Base cached-input USD / 1M tokensUnknownUnknown
Tool useSupportedNot supportedΔ vs A: -1
Open weightsUnknownUnknown
Recorded licenceUnknownUnknown
Recorded retirement dateUnknownUnknown
10 shared measured facts
Shared measured facts. Deltas compare each model with model A. Unknown facts remain visible.
Measured factA Gemma 3 12BB Gemma 3 4B
Benchmark reasoning effortdefaultdefault
Base input USD / 1M tokens$0.05$0.05Δ vs A: 0 USD/M
Context window (tokens)131,072131,072Δ vs A: 0 tokens
Output limit (tokens)16,38416,384Δ vs A: 0 tokens
Input modalitiestext, imagetext, image
ReasoningNot supportedNot supportedΔ vs A: 0
Model providerGoogleGoogle
Distinct sellers in the catalogue11Δ vs A: 0
Serving precision differs across offersNot supportedNot supportedΔ vs A: 0
Retirement evidenceNone announced; not a guaranteeNone announced; not a guarantee

Provider counts and precision flags describe catalogue offers. They do not establish the precision, availability, region, tool behaviour or limits of your chosen endpoint. Open each model’s provider table before switching.

Complete price ladders and billing conditions

Gemma 3 12B

Rates below are USD per 1M tokens. A threshold selects that whole input/output rate pair.

Input-token thresholdInputOutputCached input
Base, up to and including first threshold$0.05$0.15Unknown

Gemma 3 4B

Rates below are USD per 1M tokens. A threshold selects that whole input/output rate pair.

Input-token thresholdInputOutputCached input
Base, up to and including first threshold$0.05$0.1Unknown
Migration preflight · compare each candidate with model A

Keeping Gemma 3 12B is a valid decision. No pairwise comparison certifies a drop-in replacement.

Gemma 3 12B → Gemma 3 4B

Known loss or failed requirement

  • Tool use is not supported by the candidate.
  • Provider endpoint, serving precision, availability and task success need your own verification. Catalogue model capabilities do not certify an endpoint.
Check alternatives to Gemma 3 12B

Estimate a fixed request shape

Private to this tab unless you save locally or explicitly export private details. These are estimates, not observed invoices. Cross-model token counts and task success are assumptions.

0.1 extra attempts means 10 extra full attempts per 100 requests. Cache writes, tool charges, taxes and unlisted charges are excluded.

  • Gemma 3 12BEstimated total: $0.175 1,000 full attempts · base rates
  • Gemma 3 4BEstimated total: $0.15 1,000 full attempts · base rates
Prompt and output sensitivity · sampled scenarios

Every point recalculates the entire request shape. Tier-boundary samples include one token below, at and above each threshold. Ordering between samples is not guaranteed. Lowest known cost excludes unknown estimates and is not a replacement recommendation.

Vary input; hold output, requests, cache and retries fixed.
Input tokensGemma 3 12BGemma 3 4BCoverage
2,000$0.175$0.15Lowest knownAll computed
4,096$0.2798$0.2548Lowest knownAll computed
32,768$1.7134$1.6884Lowest knownAll computed
131,072ineligibleInput plus output exceeds the published context window.ineligibleInput plus output exceeds the published context window.Incomplete
Vary output; hold input, requests, cache and retries fixed.
Output tokensGemma 3 12BGemma 3 4B
128$0.1192$0.1128
2,048$0.4072$0.3048
8,192$1.3288$0.9192

Bring your observed evaluation results

JSON is parsed locally. Prompts, filenames, individual responses and extra fields are not retained. Import only aggregate measurements for selected models. Task/version labels do not establish that two evaluations used the same dataset.

Expected format
[{"model":"provider/exact-model-id","task":"support-answer","version":"rubric-1","attempts":100,"successes":84,"costUsd":2.4,"latencyMs":950}]

Use the exact catalogue ID. Replace the example values with observed measurements. Omit costUsd or latencyMs when they are unknown. No public score is inferred from these observations.

Keep the decision and its evidence

A portable record retains selected facts, complete tier ladders, public requirements and the publication manifest. It also embeds the full permitted public catalogue to verify the input artifact checksum. Files are larger for this reason (up to 2 MB); local storage is limited to 12 records. Team review is local to this browser; there is no hosted collaboration.

Saving is opt-in and includes private review fields. Shared comparison links never include them. Version 1 Check references remain separate and are not overwritten or guessed into this format.

Saved local decisions · 0

No version 2 decision records are stored in this browser.

Questions this page answers

Is Gemma 3 12B a better-and-cheaper replacement for Gemma 3 4B?

Neither model has both an equal-or-higher measured score and an equal-or-lower estimated price in this pair. Retaining your current model is a valid outcome.

What is included in this comparison?

Accepted model capabilities, context and output limits, complete price-tier ladders, independent LMArena measurements and missing evidence. Provider endpoint precision and application success still need verification.

Can I compare a different workload or keep a decision record?

Yes. Change the public workload, prompt length and requirements in the comparison workspace. Fixed-request scenarios, aggregate evaluations and review notes stay local unless explicitly exported.

Evidence & Ask