Model comparison
Gemma 4 12B vs Muse Spark
Head-to-head evidence from 16 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Gemma 4 12B #137 (Estimated); Muse Spark #13 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Gemma 4 12B and Muse Spark share 16 comparable benchmark results. 4 of 8 categories are comparable. 7 results are unique to Gemma 4 12B; 23 to Muse Spark.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 16
- Gemma 4 12B only
- 7
- Muse Spark only
- 23
- Comparable categories
- 4 / 8
Pick Muse Spark 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
Muse Spark is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 71.04 to 47.29. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Muse Spark's sharpest advantage is in multimodal & grounded, where it averages 82.5 against 69.1. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is MMMU-Pro, 69.1% to 80.4%. Gemma 4 12B does hit back in mathematics, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Muse Spark gives you the larger context window at 262K, 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 | Gemma 4 12B | Δ | Muse Spark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | Gemma 4 12B77.5 | Margin← 44.6 | Muse Spark32.9 |
| Knowledge | Gemma 4 12B77.5 | Margin← 27.1 | Muse Spark50.4 |
| Multimodal | Gemma 4 12B69.1 | Margin→ 13.4 | Muse Spark82.5 |
| Reasoning | Gemma 4 12B43.4 | Margin← 0.9 | Muse Spark42.5 |
| Agentic | Gemma 4 12BNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Muse Spark59.0 |
| Coding | Gemma 4 12BNot measured | MarginNo overlap | Muse Spark67.8 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
MMMU-Pro
MultimodalA 69.1%B 80.4%Winner: Muse SparkΔ 11.3MMMU-Pro: Gemma 4 12B scored 69.1%; Muse Spark scored 80.4%. Muse Spark wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Gemma 4 12B | Muse Spark | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Gemma 4 12BNot available | Muse SparkNot available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Gemma 4 12BNot available | Muse SparkNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Gemma 4 12BNot available | Muse SparkNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Gemma 4 12B256K | Muse Spark262K | Muse Spark lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Muse Spark | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 36.3% | 91.5% | Muse Spark leads |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | — | 59% | Not comparable |
| DeepSearchQASource | — | 74.8% | Not comparable |
| CyberGymSource | — | 43.5% | Not comparable |
| Claw-EvalSource | — | 63.8% | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | — | 28.7% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 32.2% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 1144 | Not comparable |
Coding6 benchmarks
ReasoningGemma 4 12B wins5 benchmarks
KnowledgeGemma 4 12B wins14 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Muse Spark | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 78.8% | — | Not comparable |
| GPQA-DSource | 78.8% | 89.5% | Muse Spark leads |
| MMLU-ProSource | 77.2% | — | Not comparable |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | 5.2% | 42.8% | Muse Spark leads |
| MMMLUSource | 83.4% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 22.0% | 43.1% | Muse Spark leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 75.3% | 88.4% | Muse Spark leads |
| AA-HLESource | 14.8% | 39.9% | Muse Spark leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -51.9% | 4.1% | Muse Spark leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 16.0% | 44.6% | Muse Spark leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 80.8% | 73.2% | Muse Spark leads |
| HLESource | — | 50.4% | Not comparable |
| HealthBench HardSource | — | 42.8% | Not comparable |
| MedXpertQA (Text)Source | — | 52.6% | Not comparable |
MathGemma 4 12B wins3 benchmarks
MultimodalMuse Spark wins9 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Muse Spark | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMMU-ProSource | 69.1% | 80.4% | Muse Spark leads |
| MathVisionSource | 79.7% | — | Not comparable |
| MedXpertQA (MM)Source | 48.7% | 78.4% | Muse Spark leads |
| AA-MMMU-ProSource | 69.7% | 80.5% | Muse Spark leads |
| CharXivSource | — | 86.4% | Not comparable |
| ERQASource | — | 64.7% | Not comparable |
| SimpleVQASource | — | 71.3% | Not comparable |
| ScreenSpot ProSource | — | 84.1% | Not comparable |
| ZeroBenchSource | — | 33.0% | Not comparable |
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Muse Spark | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | 73.5% | 75.9% | Muse Spark leads |
Frequently Asked Questions (5)
Which is better, Gemma 4 12B or Muse Spark?
Muse Spark is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 71.04 to 47.29. The biggest single separator in this matchup is MMMU-Pro, where the scores are 69.1% and 80.4%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Gemma 4 12B or Muse Spark?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 50.4. Inside this category, AA-Omniscience Index is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for math, Gemma 4 12B or Muse Spark?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 77.5 versus 32.9. Muse Spark stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
Which is better for reasoning, Gemma 4 12B or Muse Spark?
Gemma 4 12B has the edge for reasoning in this comparison, averaging 43.4 versus 42.5. Inside this category, AA-LCR is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Gemma 4 12B or Muse Spark?
Muse Spark has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 82.5 versus 69.1. Inside this category, MedXpertQA (MM) is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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