API cost decision in 10 seconds

Gemma 3 12B vs GLM 4 32B

Pick Gemma 3 12B when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T19:08:13Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Gemma 3 12B when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 12B is estimated at $0.11 vs $0.15 for GLM 4 32B, saving $0.05 (30% lower).

Cost-first pickGemma 3 12B

Context-first pickGemma 3 12B

Sample savings$0.0530%

10x traffic gap$0.45

Gemma 3 12B is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.45. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Gemma 3 12B, balanced workload favors Gemma 3 12B, and output-heavy chatbot favors GLM 4 32B.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemma 3 12B	GLM 4 32B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemma 3 12B	$0.27	$0.55
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Gemma 3 12B	$0.17	$0.2
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	GLM 4 32B	$0.69	$0.6

Cheaper input Gemma 3 12B $0.04 vs $0.1 / 1M

Gemma 3 12B is $0.06 cheaper per 1M input tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).

Cheaper output GLM 4 32B $0.13 vs $0.1 / 1M

GLM 4 32B is $0.03 cheaper per 1M output tokens (23.1% lower; 1.3x difference).

Larger context Gemma 3 12B 131.07K vs 128K

Gemma 3 12B has 3.07K more context (1.02x larger).

Sample workload Gemma 3 12B $0.11 vs $0.15

Gemma 3 12B is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (30% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemma 3 12B Calculating… Estimated API cost

GLM 4 32B 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; GLM 4 32B has the lower output price; Gemma 3 12B 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 $0.11 for Gemma 3 12B and $0.15 for GLM 4 32B.

Best Fit

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

Choose GLM 4 32B when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 12B is estimated at $0.11 vs $0.15 for GLM 4 32B, saving $0.05 (30% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $0.05 cheaper on the standard workload (30% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $0.06 cheaper per 1M input tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).
GLM 4 32B is $0.03 cheaper per 1M output tokens (23.1% lower; 1.3x difference).
Gemma 3 12B has 3.07K more context (1.02x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Gemma 3 12B (Google)	GLM 4 32B (Z.ai)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.04	$0.1
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.13	$0.1
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.11	$0.15
Context Window	131.07K	128K
Release Date	2025-03-13	2025-07-24
Popularity	#123	#147

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 $0.15 for GLM 4 32B, saving $0.05 (30% 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	GLM 4 32B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Gemma 3 12B	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 Gemma 3 12B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemma 3 12B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemma 3 12B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemma 3 12B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

Larger context near this budget

Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview 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

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Provider catalogs

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Google catalog

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Z.ai catalog

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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,...

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