Head-to-head comparison across 2benchmark categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
Gemma 4 12B
53
GPT-4.1 mini
45
Pick Gemma 4 12B if you want the stronger benchmark profile. GPT-4.1 mini only becomes the better choice if you need the larger 1M context window or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Coding
+48.4 difference
Knowledge
+13.6 difference
Gemma 4 12B
GPT-4.1 mini
N/A
$0.4 / $1.6
N/A
80 t/s
N/A
0.76s
256K
1M
Pick Gemma 4 12B if you want the stronger benchmark profile. GPT-4.1 mini only becomes the better choice if you need the larger 1M context window or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Gemma 4 12B is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 53 to 45. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Gemma 4 12B's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 72 against 23.6. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is GPQA, 78.8% to 64.2%.
Gemma 4 12B is the reasoning model in the pair, while GPT-4.1 mini 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. GPT-4.1 mini gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Gemma 4 12B.
Gemma 4 12B is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 53 to 45. The biggest single separator in this matchup is GPQA, where the scores are 78.8% and 64.2%.
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 77.8 versus 64.2. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72 versus 23.6. GPT-4.1 mini stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
For engineers, researchers, and the plain curious — a weekly brief on new models, ranking shifts, and pricing changes.
Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.