API cost decision in 10 seconds

Gemma 4 26B A4B vs Gemma 3 12B

Pick Gemma 3 12B for lower cost; pick Gemma 4 26B A4B only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Gemma 3 12B for lower cost; pick Gemma 4 26B A4B 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 $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B, saving $0.12 (53.3% lower).

Cost-first pickGemma 3 12B

Context-first pickGemma 4 26B A4B

Sample savings$0.1253.3%

10x traffic gap$1.2

Gemma 4 26B A4B has more context, but Gemma 3 12B saves $0.12 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.2. 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	Gemma 4 26B A4B	Gemma 3 12B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemma 3 12B	$0.46	$0.27
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Gemma 3 12B	$0.39	$0.17
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Gemma 3 12B	$1.71	$0.69

Cheaper input Gemma 3 12B $0.06 vs $0.04 / 1M

Gemma 3 12B is $0.02 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).

Cheaper output Gemma 3 12B $0.33 vs $0.13 / 1M

Gemma 3 12B is $0.2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (60.6% lower; 2.54x difference).

Larger context Gemma 4 26B A4B 262.14K vs 131.07K

Gemma 4 26B A4B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Gemma 3 12B $0.23 vs $0.11

Gemma 3 12B is $0.12 cheaper on the standard workload (53.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemma 4 26B A4B 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; Gemma 4 26B A4B 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 $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B and $0.11 for Gemma 3 12B.

Best Fit

Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B 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 $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B, saving $0.12 (53.3% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $0.12 cheaper on the standard workload (53.3% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $0.02 cheaper per 1M input tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
Gemma 3 12B is $0.2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (60.6% lower; 2.54x difference).
Gemma 4 26B A4B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Gemma 4 26B A4B (Google)	Gemma 3 12B (Google)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.06	$0.04
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.33	$0.13
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.23	$0.11
Context Window	262.14K	131.07K
Release Date	2026-04-03	2025-03-13
Popularity	#30	#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 $0.23 for Gemma 4 26B A4B, saving $0.12 (53.3% 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	Gemma 4 26B A4B	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 4 26B A4B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemma 4 26B A4B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemma 4 26B A4B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemma 4 26B A4B 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.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 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

Gemma 4 26B A4B

Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is an instruction-tuned Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model from Google DeepMind. Despite 25.2B total parameters, only 3.8B activate per token during inference — delivering near-31B quality at...

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,...