API cost decision in 10 seconds

GLM 5.1 vs Gemma 3 12B

Pick Gemma 3 12B for lower cost; pick GLM 5.1 only if the larger context window matters more.

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 for lower cost; pick GLM 5.1 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 $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $2.42 (95.8% lower).

Cost-first pickGemma 3 12B

Context-first pickGLM 5.1

Sample savings$2.4295.8%

10x traffic gap$24.15

GLM 5.1 has more context, but Gemma 3 12B saves $2.42 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $24.15. 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	GLM 5.1	Gemma 3 12B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemma 3 12B	$6.44	$0.27
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Gemma 3 12B	$4.06	$0.17
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Gemma 3 12B	$16.38	$0.69

Cheaper input Gemma 3 12B $0.98 vs $0.04 / 1M

Gemma 3 12B is $0.94 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.9% lower; 24.5x difference).

Cheaper output Gemma 3 12B $3.08 vs $0.13 / 1M

Gemma 3 12B is $2.95 cheaper per 1M output tokens (95.8% lower; 23.7x difference).

Larger context GLM 5.1 202.75K vs 131.07K

GLM 5.1 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Sample workload Gemma 3 12B $2.52 vs $0.11

Gemma 3 12B is $2.42 cheaper on the standard workload (95.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GLM 5.1 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; GLM 5.1 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 $2.52 for GLM 5.1 and $0.11 for Gemma 3 12B.

Best Fit

Choose GLM 5.1 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 $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $2.42 (95.8% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $2.42 cheaper on the standard workload (95.8% lower).
Gemma 3 12B is $0.94 cheaper per 1M input tokens (95.9% lower; 24.5x difference).
Gemma 3 12B is $2.95 cheaper per 1M output tokens (95.8% lower; 23.7x difference).
GLM 5.1 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	GLM 5.1 (Z.ai)	Gemma 3 12B (Google)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.98	$0.04
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$3.08	$0.13
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.52	$0.11
Context Window	202.75K	131.07K
Release Date	2026-04-07	2025-03-13
Popularity	#23	#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 $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $2.42 (95.8% 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	GLM 5.1	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 5.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 5.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
GLM 4.7 Flash can replace GLM 5.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.26.
GLM 4.5 Air can replace GLM 5.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.54.

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.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 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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Z.ai catalog

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Google catalog

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GLM 5.1

GLM-5.1 delivers a major leap in coding capability, with particularly significant gains in handling long-horizon tasks. Unlike previous models built around minute-level interactions, GLM-5.1 can work independently and continuously on...

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,...