Model comparison
Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Gemma 4 12B
Head-to-head evidence from 12 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Gemini 2.5 Flash #130 (Supported); Gemma 4 12B #137 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemma 4 12B share 12 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 3 results are unique to Gemini 2.5 Flash; 11 to Gemma 4 12B.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 12
- Gemini 2.5 Flash only
- 3
- Gemma 4 12B only
- 11
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick Gemini 2.5 Flash if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemma 4 12B only becomes the better choice if mathematics is the priority or you want the stronger reasoning-first profile.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 12 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Gemini 2.5 Flash has the cleaner BenchAlign overall profile here, landing at 48.09 versus 47.29. It is a real lead, but still close enough that category-level strengths matter more than the headline number.
Gemma 4 12B is the reasoning model in the pair, while Gemini 2.5 Flash 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. Gemini 2.5 Flash gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Gemma 4 12B.
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 | Gemini 2.5 Flash | Δ | Gemma 4 12B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | Gemini 2.5 Flash4.7 | Margin→ 72.8 | Gemma 4 12B77.5 |
| Reasoning | Gemini 2.5 FlashNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12B43.4 |
| Knowledge | Gemini 2.5 FlashNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12B77.5 |
| Multimodal | Gemini 2.5 FlashNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Gemma 4 12B69.1 |
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Gemini 2.5 Flash | Gemma 4 12B | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Gemini 2.5 Flash$0.3 input / $2.5 output | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Gemini 2.5 Flash221 tok/s | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Gemini 2.5 Flash0.50 s | Gemma 4 12BNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Gemini 2.5 Flash1M | Gemma 4 12B256K | Gemini 2.5 Flash lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash | Gemma 4 12B | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 14.9% | 36.3% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
Coding1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash | Gemma 4 12B | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-SciCodeSource | 29.1% | 38.2% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
Reasoning4 benchmarks
Knowledge11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash | Gemma 4 12B | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 14.1% | 22.0% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 68.3% | 75.3% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| AA-HLESource | 5.1% | 14.8% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -42.0% | -51.9% | Gemini 2.5 Flash leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 26.5% | 16.0% | Gemini 2.5 Flash leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 93.3% | 80.8% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
| GPQASource | — | 78.8% | Not comparable |
| 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 |
MathGemma 4 12B wins3 benchmarks
Multimodal5 benchmarks
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemini 2.5 Flash | Gemma 4 12B | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | 39.0% | 73.5% | Gemma 4 12B leads |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Gemini 2.5 Flash or Gemma 4 12B?
Gemini 2.5 Flash is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 48.09 to 47.29.
Which is better for math, Gemini 2.5 Flash or Gemma 4 12B?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 4.7. Gemini 2.5 Flash stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
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