API cost decision in 10 seconds

New🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash vs Gemma 3 12B

Pick Gemma 3 12B for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.5 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T20:08:05Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Gemma 3 12B for lower cost; pick Gemini 3.5 Flash only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 12B is estimated at $0.11 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $5.89 (98.2% lower).

Cost-first pickGemma 3 12B

Context-first pickGemini 3.5 Flash

Sample savings$5.8998.2%

10x traffic gap$58.95

Gemini 3.5 Flash has more context, but Gemma 3 12B saves $5.89 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $58.95. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Gemma 3 12B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemini 3.5 Flash	Gemma 3 12B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemma 3 12B	$12	$0.27
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Gemma 3 12B	$10.5	$0.17
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Gemma 3 12B	$46.5	$0.69

Cheaper input Gemma 3 12B $1.5 vs $0.04 / 1M

Gemma 3 12B is $1.46 cheaper per 1M input tokens (97.3% lower; 37.5x difference).

Cheaper output Gemma 3 12B $9 vs $0.13 / 1M

Gemma 3 12B is $8.87 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.6% lower; 69.2x difference).

Larger context Gemini 3.5 Flash 1.05M vs 131.07K

Gemini 3.5 Flash has 917.5K more context (8x larger).

Sample workload Gemma 3 12B $6 vs $0.11

Gemma 3 12B is $5.89 cheaper on the standard workload (98.2% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemini 3.5 Flash Calculating… Estimated API cost

Gemma 3 12B Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Gemma 3 12B has the lower input price; Gemma 3 12B has the lower output price; Gemini 3.5 Flash offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Gemma 3 12B is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash and $0.11 for Gemma 3 12B.

Best Fit

Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Gemma 3 12B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 12B is estimated at $0.11 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $5.89 (98.2% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $5.89 cheaper on the standard workload (98.2% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $1.46 cheaper per 1M input tokens (97.3% lower; 37.5x difference).
Gemma 3 12B is $8.87 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.6% lower; 69.2x difference).
Gemini 3.5 Flash has 917.5K more context (8x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	New🔥Gemini 3.5 Flash (Google)	Gemma 3 12B (Google)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.5	$0.04
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$9	$0.13
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$6	$0.11
Context Window	1.05M	131.07K
Release Date	2026-05-19	2025-03-13
Popularity	#11	#123

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Gemma 3 12B	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 12B is estimated at $0.11 vs $6 for Gemini 3.5 Flash, saving $5.89 (98.2% lower).
High-volume input processing	Gemma 3 12B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Gemma 3 12B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemini 3.5 Flash	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemini 3.5 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Google catalog

Review all tracked Google models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open Google models

Gemini 3.5 Flash

Gemini 3.5 Flash is Google's high-efficiency multimodal model, bringing near-Pro level coding and reasoning at Flash-tier cost and speed. It is highly optimized for coding proficiency and parallel agentic execution...

Gemma 3 12B

Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs. It handles context windows up to 128k tokens, understands over 140 languages, and offers improved math, reasoning, and chat capabilities,...