Model Comparison
Gemma 3 12B Instruct
vs. Granite 4.0 Micro
Comparing 2 AI models · 12 benchmarks · Google, IBM
Recommended Pick
Go Gemma 3 12B Instruct 10 metric wins Strongest on: Reasoning, Intelligence, Coding
Lowest Price
Granite 4.0 Micro
$0.00/1M input price
Best Reasoning
Gemma 3 12B Instruct
27.5 reasoning score
Blends available reasoning benchmarks
Best for Coding
Gemma 3 12B Instruct
6.3 coding index
Composite Indices
Higher is better; speed and price are normalized
Standard Benchmarks
Only benchmarks with data are shown
Differences That Matter
Price gap
Granite 4.0 Micro is ∞x cheaper on input tokens than Gemma 3 12B Instruct.
Reasoning gap
Gemma 3 12B Instruct leads Granite 4.0 Micro by 15.8 points on reasoning.
Coding gap
Gemma 3 12B Instruct leads Granite 4.0 Micro by 1.3 points on coding.
Top-pick rationale
Gemma 3 12B Instruct wins 10 measurable categories, including Reasoning, Intelligence, Coding, Math.
Response Face-Off
Run one prompt through the selected models and compare response quality with live speed and cost context.
Gemma 3 12B Instruct
TTFT
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Time
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tok/s
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Tokens
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Cost
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Granite 4.0 Micro
IBM
TTFT
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Time
—
tok/s
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Tokens
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Cost
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Which answer was more useful?
Full Comparison
| Metric | Top Pick Go Gemma 3 12B Instruct | IB Granite 4.0 Micro |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing per 1M tokens | ||
| Input Cost | $0.09/1M | $0.00/1M |
| Output Cost | $0.29/1M | $0.00/1M |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.14/1M | — |
| Specifications | ||
| Organization | IBM | |
| Release Date | Mar 12, 2025 | Sep 22, 2025 |
| Performance & Speed | ||
| Throughput | — | — |
| TTFT | — | — |
| Latency | — | — |
| Composite Indices | ||
| Value Score | 100.0 | — |
| Reasoning Score | 27.5 | 11.7 |
| Intelligence | 8.8 | 7.7 |
| Coding | 6.3 | 5.0 |
| Math | 18.3 | 6.0 |
| Standard Benchmarks | ||
| GPQA | 34.9% | 33.6% |
| MMLU Pro | 59.5% | 44.7% |
| HLE | 4.8% | 5.1% |
| LiveCodeBench | 13.7% | 18.0% |
| MATH 500 | 85.3% | — |
| AIME 2025 | 18.3% | 6.0% |
| AIME (Original) | 22.0% | — |
| SciCode | 17.4% | 11.9% |
| LCR | 6.7% | 4.0% |
| IFBench | 36.7% | 24.8% |
| TAU-bench v2 | 10.8% | 12.6% |
| TerminalBench Hard | 0.8% | 1.5% |
Key Takeaways
Granite 4.0 Micro offers the best value at $0.00/1M, making it ideal for high-volume applications and cost-conscious projects.
Gemma 3 12B Instruct has the strongest reasoning profile with a 27.5 reasoning score, combining the available reasoning-heavy benchmarks.
Gemma 3 12B Instruct reaches a 6.3 coding index, making it the top choice for software development and code generation tasks.
All models support context windows of ∞+ tokens, suitable for processing lengthy documents and maintaining extended conversations.
When to Choose Each Model
Gemma 3 12B Instruct
- Complex reasoning tasks
- Research & analysis
- Code generation
- Software development
Granite 4.0 Micro
- Cost-sensitive applications
- High-volume processing
