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Head-to-head comparison

Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Gemma 3 12B (Google) and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (Qwen) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 18 August 2026

As of 18 August 2026, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#101 vs #175); Gemma 3 12B is 14× cheaper per output token ($0.15/1M vs $2.10/1M); and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemma 3 12B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.15/1M output tokens against $2.10/1M, about 14× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.05/1M against $0.18/1M.

Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #101 against #175 (23.7 vs 20.3 points).
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ships open weights while Gemma 3 12B is gated access.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was listed 14 October 2025, Gemma 3 12B 13 March 2025.

Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Gemma 3 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
FieldGemma 3 12BGoogleQwen3 VL 8B ThinkingQwen
ModelCap Index position#175#101
Index score20.323.7
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.05$0.18
Output price / 1M tokens$0.15$2.10
Context window131K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens16K33K
API providers listed11
Weight accessGated accessOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, ImageImage, Text
First listed13 March 202514 October 2025
PublisherGoogleQwen

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · publisher corpus prior · leave-one-anchor-out calibrated. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Public benchmark boards where Gemma 3 12B or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking has a published result
BoardGemma 3 12BQwen3 VL 8B ThinkingLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13161293–1340—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)30.4Prompt—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis5.5intelligence-index—Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: common questions

Is Gemma 3 12B better than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #101 against #175. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Gemma 3 12B cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Gemma 3 12B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.15/1M against $2.10/1M. Input tokens are $0.05/1M for Gemma 3 12B and $0.18/1M for Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemma 3 12B or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

Both publish a 131K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 3 12B or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Gemma 3 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking open-weight models?

Gemma 3 12B: Gated access. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Gemma 3 12B and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Gemma 3 12B and 1 for Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 18 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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