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Model comparison

Gemini 3.5 Flash vs Gemma 4 12B

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 16 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

64.75/100
Margin
17.5pts
← winning
47.29/100
2 category wins2 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: Gemini 3.5 Flash #33 (Estimated); Gemma 4 12B #137 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. Gemini 3.5 Flash and Gemma 4 12B share 16 comparable benchmark results. 4 of 8 categories are comparable. 30 results are unique to Gemini 3.5 Flash; 7 to Gemma 4 12B.

Updated July 23, 2026
Shared results
16
Gemini 3.5 Flash only
30
Gemma 4 12B only
7
Comparable categories
4 / 8

Pick Gemini 3.5 Flash if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemma 4 12B only becomes the better choice if mathematics is the priority.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 16 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 4 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

Gemini 3.5 Flash is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 64.75 to 47.29. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

Gemini 3.5 Flash's sharpest advantage is in reasoning, where it averages 74.7 against 43.4. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is MRCRv2, 77.3% to 43.4%. Gemma 4 12B does hit back in mathematics, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.

Gemini 3.5 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 scores and score margins for Gemini 3.5 Flash and Gemma 4 12B
CategoryGemini 3.5 FlashΔGemma 4 12B
MathGemini 3.5 Flash32.9Margin→ 44.6Gemma 4 12B77.5
ReasoningGemini 3.5 Flash74.7Margin← 31.3Gemma 4 12B43.4
KnowledgeGemini 3.5 Flash47.2Margin→ 30.3Gemma 4 12B77.5
MultimodalGemini 3.5 Flash83.8Margin← 14.7Gemma 4 12B69.1
AgenticGemini 3.5 Flash77.2MarginNo overlapGemma 4 12BNot measured
CodingGemini 3.5 Flash53.9MarginNo overlapGemma 4 12BNot measured
Inst. FollowingGemini 3.5 Flash76.3MarginNo overlapGemma 4 12BNot measured

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

More
A · Gemini 3.5 FlashB · Gemma 4 12B

  1. MRCRv2

    Reasoning
    Source ↗
    A 77.3%B 43.4%
    Winner: Gemini 3.5 FlashΔ 33.9
    MRCRv2: Gemini 3.5 Flash scored 77.3%; Gemma 4 12B scored 43.4%. Gemini 3.5 Flash wins this benchmark.

  2. MMMU-Pro

    Multimodal
    Source ↗
    A 83.6%B 69.1%
    Winner: Gemini 3.5 FlashΔ 14.5
    MMMU-Pro: Gemini 3.5 Flash scored 83.6%; Gemma 4 12B scored 69.1%. Gemini 3.5 Flash wins this benchmark.

  3. GPQA

    Knowledge
    Source ↗
    A 92.2%B 78.8%
    Winner: Gemini 3.5 FlashΔ 13.4
    GPQA: Gemini 3.5 Flash scored 92.2%; Gemma 4 12B scored 78.8%. Gemini 3.5 Flash wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BComparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensGemini 3.5 Flash$1.5 input / $9 outputGemma 4 12BNot availableA complete price comparison is not available.
Generation speedtokens per secondGemini 3.5 Flash284.2 tok/sGemma 4 12BNot availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenGemini 3.5 Flash18.55 sGemma 4 12BNot availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensGemini 3.5 Flash1MGemma 4 12B256KGemini 3.5 Flash lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BResult
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 76.2%—Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource 83.6%—Not comparable
ToolathlonSource 56.5%—Not comparable
OSWorld-VerifiedSource 78.4%—Not comparable
Finance Agent v2Source 57.9%—Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 1349—Not comparable
τ²-bench resultsSource 95.3%36.3%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
GDPval-AASource 42.4%—Not comparable
AA Agentic IndexSource 37.5%—Not comparable
APEX-Agents-AASource 47.1%—Not comparable
Gert LabsSource 61.85%—Not comparable
ResearchClawBenchSource 18.0%—Not comparable
AA AutomationBenchSource 42.6%—Not comparable
AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource 50.1%—Not comparable
terminalBenchHardSource 40.9%—Not comparable
Coding
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BResult
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 76.2%—Not comparable
SWE-bench ProSource 55.1%—Not comparable
SciCodeSource 53.1%—Not comparable
Vibe Code BenchSource 48.68%—Not comparable
cursorBench31Source 49.8%—Not comparable
cursorBench32Source 48.8%—Not comparable
AA Coding IndexSource 70.1%—Not comparable
AA-SciCodeSource 53.1%38.2%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
ReasoningGemini 3.5 Flash wins
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BResult
MRCRv2Source 77.3%43.4%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
MRCR 1MSource 26.6%—Not comparable
ARC-AGI-2Source 72.1%—Not comparable
AA-LCRSource 69.3%55.3%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
CritPtSource 13.1%0.0%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
BBHSource —53%Not comparable
KnowledgeGemma 4 12B wins
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BResult
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 50.2%22.0%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
GPQASource 92.2%78.8%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
GPQA-DSource 92.7%78.8%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
HLESource 40.2%—Not comparable
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 51.9%16.0%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 60.7%80.8%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 92.2%75.3%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
AA-HLESource 41.0%14.8%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource 22.7%-51.9%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
MMLU-ProSource —77.2%Not comparable
HLE w/o toolsSource —5.2%Not comparable
MMMLUSource —83.4%Not comparable
MathGemma 4 12B wins
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BResult
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source 38.966%—Not comparable
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)Source 14.583%—Not comparable
AIME26Source —77.5%Not comparable
MultimodalGemini 3.5 Flash wins
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BResult
CharXivSource 84.2%—Not comparable
MMMU-ProSource 83.6%69.1%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
Blueprint-Bench 2Source 33.6%—Not comparable
AA-MMMU-ProSource 84.3%69.7%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
Design Arena WebsiteSource 1285—Not comparable
MathVisionSource —79.7%Not comparable
MedXpertQA (MM)Source —48.7%Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkGemini 3.5 FlashGemma 4 12BResult
IFBenchSource 76.3%—Not comparable
AA-IFBenchSource 76.3%73.5%Gemini 3.5 Flash leads
Frequently Asked Questions (5)

Which is better, Gemini 3.5 Flash or Gemma 4 12B?

Gemini 3.5 Flash is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 64.75 to 47.29. The biggest single separator in this matchup is MRCRv2, where the scores are 77.3% and 43.4%.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, Gemini 3.5 Flash or Gemma 4 12B?

Gemma 4 12B has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 47.2. Inside this category, AA-Omniscience Index is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, Gemini 3.5 Flash or Gemma 4 12B?

Gemma 4 12B has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 32.9. Gemini 3.5 Flash stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.

Which is better for reasoning, Gemini 3.5 Flash or Gemma 4 12B?

Gemini 3.5 Flash has the edge for reasoning in this comparison, averaging 74.7 versus 43.4. Inside this category, MRCRv2 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Gemini 3.5 Flash or Gemma 4 12B?

Gemini 3.5 Flash has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 83.8 versus 69.1. Inside this category, AA-MMMU-Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

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