Model comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Gemma 4 12B
Head-to-head evidence from 1 shared benchmark result across 1 category. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude Sonnet 4.5 #96 (Estimated); Gemma 4 12B #137 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Gemma 4 12B share 1 comparable benchmark result. 3 of 8 categories are comparable. 11 results are unique to Claude Sonnet 4.5; 22 to Gemma 4 12B.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 1
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 only
- 11
- Gemma 4 12B only
- 22
- Comparable categories
- 3 / 8
Pick Claude Sonnet 4.5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemma 4 12B only becomes the better choice if mathematics is the priority or you need the larger 256K context window.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 1 shared benchmark result across 1 evidence category; 3 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 53.61 to 47.29. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Claude Sonnet 4.5's sharpest advantage is in knowledge, where it averages 83.4 against 77.5. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is GPQA, 83.4% to 78.8%. Gemma 4 12B does hit back in mathematics, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Gemma 4 12B is the reasoning model in the pair, while Claude Sonnet 4.5 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. Gemma 4 12B gives you the larger context window at 256K, compared with 200K for Claude Sonnet 4.5.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Δ | Gemma 4 12B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | Claude Sonnet 4.511.2 | Margin→ 66.3 | Gemma 4 12B77.5 |
| Reasoning | Claude Sonnet 4.513.6 | Margin→ 29.8 | Gemma 4 12B43.4 |
| Knowledge | Claude Sonnet 4.583.4 | Margin← 5.9 | Gemma 4 12B77.5 |
| Agentic | Claude Sonnet 4.555.4 | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12BNot measured |
| Coding | Claude Sonnet 4.577.2 | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12BNot measured |
| Multimodal | Claude Sonnet 4.5Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12B69.1 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
GPQA
KnowledgeA 83.4%B 78.8%Winner: Claude Sonnet 4.5Δ 4.6GPQA: Claude Sonnet 4.5 scored 83.4%; Gemma 4 12B scored 78.8%. Claude Sonnet 4.5 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Gemma 4 12B | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude Sonnet 4.5$3 input / $15 output | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude Sonnet 4.5Not available | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude Sonnet 4.5Not available | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude Sonnet 4.5200K | Gemma 4 12B256K | Gemma 4 12B lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic6 benchmarks
Coding2 benchmarks
ReasoningGemma 4 12B wins5 benchmarks
KnowledgeClaude Sonnet 4.5 wins11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Gemma 4 12B | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 83.4% | 78.8% | Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads |
| GPQA-DSource | — | 78.8% | Not comparable |
| MMLU-ProSource | — | 77.2% | Not comparable |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | — | 5.2% | Not comparable |
| MMMLUSource | — | 83.4% | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | — | 22.0% | Not comparable |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | — | 75.3% | Not comparable |
| AA-HLESource | — | 14.8% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | — | -51.9% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | — | 16.0% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | — | 80.8% | Not comparable |
MathGemma 4 12B wins4 benchmarks
Multimodal5 benchmarks
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Gemma 4 12B | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | — | 73.5% | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (4)
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Gemma 4 12B?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 53.61 to 47.29. The biggest single separator in this matchup is GPQA, where the scores are 83.4% and 78.8%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Gemma 4 12B?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 83.4 versus 77.5. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for math, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Gemma 4 12B?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 11.2. Claude Sonnet 4.5 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
Which is better for reasoning, Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Gemma 4 12B?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for reasoning in this comparison, averaging 43.4 versus 13.6. Claude Sonnet 4.5 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
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