# Gemma 4 12B vs Spark-X2.6-4B

> Side-by-side benchmark comparison for Gemma 4 12B and Spark-X2.6-4B across agentic, coding, multimodal, knowledge, reasoning, multilingual, and math tasks.

- Canonical page: https://benchlm.ai/compare/gemma-4-12b-vs-spark-x2-6-4b
- Last updated: October 20, 2026

- Shared sourced benchmarks: 4
- HTML indexing: indexable
- Ranking lane: BenchAlign v5.8

## Quick Verdict

Spark-X2.6-4B leads by point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence. Choose using the category evidence and your own workload tests.

## Summary

- Spark-X2.6-4B has the higher overall point estimate 40.14 to 36.1. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.
- The clearest category separation is in mathematics, where the averages are 61.3 for Gemma 4 12B and 76.4 for Spark-X2.6-4B.
- The biggest single benchmark swing is AIME26 in Mathematics, with scores of 77.5% and 91.2%.
- Spark-X2.6-4B also has the larger context window at 1M.

## Model Snapshot

| Property | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Creator | Google | SparkLLM |
| Type | Open Weight | Open Weight |
| Reasoning | Reasoning | Reasoning |
| Context | 256K | 1M |
| Overall Score | 36.1 | 40.14 |
| Benchmarks Covered | 12 | 20 |
| Pricing (input/output) | N/A | $0.00 / $0.00 |

## Category Breakdown

### Agentic

- Winner: Not comparable
- Gemma 4 12B public-lane score: Coming soon
- Spark-X2.6-4B public-lane score: 33 (Estimated · #89/131)

| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| BFCL v4 | Coming soon | 71.8% | Coming soon |
| τ²-bench results | Coming soon | 86.9% | Coming soon |
| MCP Atlas | Coming soon | 62.4% | Coming soon |
| BrowseComp | Coming soon | 53.1% | Coming soon |
| HLE w/ tools | Coming soon | 36.9% | Coming soon |
| τ³-bench results | Coming soon | 34.7% | Coming soon |
| Claw-Eval | Coming soon | 69.9% | Coming soon |

### Coding

- Winner: Directional only
- Gemma 4 12B public-lane score: 22.7 (Estimated · #115/152)
- Spark-X2.6-4B public-lane score: 30.6 (Estimated · #95/152)

| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| LiveCodeBench v6 | 72.0% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| SWE-bench Pro | Coming soon | 54.3% | Coming soon |
| SWE-bench Verified | Coming soon | 62.8% | Coming soon |
| SWE Multilingual | Coming soon | 64.7% | Coming soon |
| SciCode | Coming soon | 36.8% | Coming soon |

### Reasoning

- Winner: Not comparable
- Gemma 4 12B public-lane score: 51.8 (Unranked · 3 rankable rows)
- Spark-X2.6-4B public-lane score: 48.8 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)

| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| MRCRv2 | 43.4% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| LongBench v2 | Coming soon | 53.3% | Coming soon |

### Multimodal & Grounded

- Winner: Not comparable
- Gemma 4 12B public-lane score: 59.4 (#45/55)
- Spark-X2.6-4B public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| ExtractBench (LlamaIndex) | 45.39% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MMMU-Pro | 69.1% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MathVision | 79.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| MedXpertQA (MM) | 48.7% | Coming soon | Coming soon |

### Knowledge

- Winner: Directional only
- Gemma 4 12B public-lane score: 35.4 (Supported · #137/187)
- Spark-X2.6-4B public-lane score: 43 (Estimated · #109/187)

| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| GPQA | 78.8% | 69.9% | Gemma 4 12B |
| GPQA-D | 78.8% | 77.1% | Gemma 4 12B |
| MMLU-Pro | 77.2% | Coming soon | Coming soon |
| HLE w/o tools | 5.2% | 17.9% | Spark-X2.6-4B |
| MMMLU | 83.4% | Coming soon | Coming soon |

### Instruction Following

- Winner: Directional only
- Gemma 4 12B public-lane score: 90.1 (#25/149)
- Spark-X2.6-4B public-lane score: 78.2 (#62/149)

| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| IFEval | Coming soon | 93.6% | Coming soon |
| IFBench | Coming soon | 75.8% | Coming soon |

### Mathematics

- Winner: Not comparable
- Gemma 4 12B public-lane score: 61.3 (Unranked · 1 rankable row)
- Spark-X2.6-4B public-lane score: 76.4 (Unranked · 3 rankable rows)

| Benchmark | Gemma 4 12B | Spark-X2.6-4B | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| AIME26 | 77.5% | 91.2% | Spark-X2.6-4B |
| HMMT Feb 2026 | Coming soon | 81.3% | Coming soon |
| IMOAnswerBench | Coming soon | 75.2% | Coming soon |

## FAQ

### Which is better overall, Gemma 4 12B or Spark-X2.6-4B?

Spark-X2.6-4B has the higher overall point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.

### Where is the biggest gap between Gemma 4 12B and Spark-X2.6-4B?

The widest category gap is in mathematics, where the averages are 61.3 for Gemma 4 12B and 76.4 for Spark-X2.6-4B.

### How many benchmarks does Gemma 4 12B cover on BenchLM?

Gemma 4 12B currently has 12 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

### How many benchmarks does Spark-X2.6-4B cover on BenchLM?

Spark-X2.6-4B currently has 20 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

## Related Comparisons

- [Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 26B A4B](/compare/gemma-4-12b-vs-gemma-4-26b-a4b)
- [Spark-X2.6-4B vs Gemma 4 26B A4B](/compare/gemma-4-26b-a4b-vs-spark-x2-6-4b)
- [Gemma 4 12B vs Gemma 4 31B](/compare/gemma-4-12b-vs-gemma-4-31b)
- [Spark-X2.6-4B vs Gemma 4 31B](/compare/gemma-4-31b-vs-spark-x2-6-4b)

## Explore More

- [Gemma 4 12B profile](/models/gemma-4-12b)
- [Spark-X2.6-4B profile](/models/spark-x2-6-4b)
- [Compare Pricing](/llm-pricing)
- [Alternative Finder](/tools/alternative-finder)
- [LLM Selector](/tools/llm-selector)
- [Overall Rankings](/best/overall)