Gemma 3 12B is $0.56 cheaper per 1M input tokens (93.3% lower; 15x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Kimi K2 0905 vs Gemma 3 12B
Pick Gemma 3 12B for lower cost; pick Kimi K2 0905 only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Gemma 3 12B for lower cost; pick Kimi K2 0905 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 $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905, saving $1.75 (94.3% lower).
Cost-first pickGemma 3 12B
Context-first pickKimi K2 0905
Sample savings$1.7594.3%
10x traffic gap$17.45
Kimi K2 0905 has more context, but Gemma 3 12B saves $1.75 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $17.45. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Gemma 3 12B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Kimi K2 0905 | Gemma 3 12B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Gemma 3 12B | $4.25 | $0.27 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Gemma 3 12B | $3.1 | $0.17 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Gemma 3 12B | $13.1 | $0.69 |
Gemma 3 12B is $2.37 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.8% lower; 19.2x difference).
Kimi K2 0905 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Gemma 3 12B is $1.75 cheaper on the standard workload (94.3% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Gemma 3 12B has the lower input price; Gemma 3 12B has the lower output price; Kimi K2 0905 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 $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905 and $0.11 for Gemma 3 12B.
Choose Kimi K2 0905 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.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 12B is estimated at $0.11 vs $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905, saving $1.75 (94.3% lower).
- Gemma 3 12B is $1.75 cheaper on the standard workload (94.3% lower).
- Gemma 3 12B is $0.56 cheaper per 1M input tokens (93.3% lower; 15x difference).
- Gemma 3 12B is $2.37 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.8% lower; 19.2x difference).
- Kimi K2 0905 has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
| Feature | Kimi K2 0905 (MoonshotAI) | Gemma 3 12B (Google) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.6 | $0.04 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $2.5 | $0.13 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $1.85 | $0.11 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 131.07K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #70 | #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 $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905, saving $1.75 (94.3% 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 | Kimi K2 0905 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Kimi K2.5 can replace Kimi K2 0905 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.35.
- Kimi K2 0711 can replace Kimi K2 0905 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.72.
- 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.
- 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.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.
- 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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Open provider hubsMoonshotAI catalog
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Open Google modelsKimi K2 0905 is the September update of [Kimi K2 0711](moonshotai/kimi-k2). It is a large-scale Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model developed by Moonshot AI, featuring 1 trillion total parameters with 32...
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,...