Model comparison
DeepSeek V3 vs Gemma 4 12B
Head-to-head evidence from 13 shared benchmark results across 5 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: DeepSeek V3 #147 (Supported); Gemma 4 12B #137 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. DeepSeek V3 and Gemma 4 12B share 13 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 9 results are unique to DeepSeek V3; 10 to Gemma 4 12B.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 13
- DeepSeek V3 only
- 9
- Gemma 4 12B only
- 10
- Comparable categories
- 2 / 8
Pick Gemma 4 12B if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V3 only becomes the better choice if you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 13 shared benchmark results across 5 evidence categories; 2 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Gemma 4 12B has the cleaner BenchAlign overall profile here, landing at 47.29 versus 44.97. It is a real lead, but still close enough that category-level strengths matter more than the headline number.
Gemma 4 12B's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 77.5 against 1.7. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is GPQA, 59.1% to 78.8%.
Gemma 4 12B is the reasoning model in the pair, while DeepSeek V3 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 128K for DeepSeek V3.
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 | DeepSeek V3 | Δ | Gemma 4 12B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | DeepSeek V31.7 | Margin→ 75.8 | Gemma 4 12B77.5 |
| Knowledge | DeepSeek V372.7 | Margin→ 4.8 | Gemma 4 12B77.5 |
| Coding | DeepSeek V338.9 | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12BNot measured |
| Reasoning | DeepSeek V3Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12B43.4 |
| Multimodal | DeepSeek V3Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12B69.1 |
| Inst. Following | DeepSeek V386.1 | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12BNot measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
GPQA
KnowledgeA 59.1%B 78.8%Winner: Gemma 4 12BΔ 19.7GPQA: DeepSeek V3 scored 59.1%; Gemma 4 12B scored 78.8%. Gemma 4 12B wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
MMLU-Pro
KnowledgeA 75.9%B 77.2%Winner: Gemma 4 12BΔ 1.3MMLU-Pro: DeepSeek V3 scored 75.9%; Gemma 4 12B scored 77.2%. Gemma 4 12B wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | DeepSeek V3 | Gemma 4 12B | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | DeepSeek V3$0.27 input / $1.1 output | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | DeepSeek V3Not available | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | DeepSeek V3Not available | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | DeepSeek V3128K | Gemma 4 12B256K | Gemma 4 12B lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic4 benchmarks
Coding4 benchmarks
Reasoning4 benchmarks
KnowledgeGemma 4 12B wins11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3 | Gemma 4 12B | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 59.1% | 78.8% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| MMLU-ProSource | 75.9% | 77.2% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 14.2% | 22.0% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 55.7% | 75.3% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| AA-HLESource | 3.6% | 14.8% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -41.3% | -51.9% | DeepSeek V3 leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 25.4% | 16.0% | DeepSeek V3 leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 89.4% | 80.8% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| GPQA-DSource | — | 78.8% | Not comparable |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | — | 5.2% | Not comparable |
| MMMLUSource | — | 83.4% | Not comparable |
MathGemma 4 12B wins2 benchmarks
Multimodal5 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (3)
Which is better, DeepSeek V3 or Gemma 4 12B?
Gemma 4 12B is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 47.29 to 44.97. The biggest single separator in this matchup is GPQA, where the scores are 59.1% and 78.8%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, DeepSeek V3 or Gemma 4 12B?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 72.7. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for math, DeepSeek V3 or Gemma 4 12B?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 1.7. DeepSeek V3 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
Self-host vs API cost
Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.
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