Gemma 3 12B vs Qwen3.5-9B
Gemma 3 12B (2026) and Qwen3.5-9B (2026) are compact production models from Google DeepMind and Alibaba. Gemma 3 12B ships a 33k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-9B ships a 262k-token context window. On pricing, Gemma 3 12B costs $0.04/1M input tokens versus $0.10/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Gemma 3 12B is ~150% cheaper at $0.04/1M; pay for Qwen3.5-9B only for long-context analysis.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Gemma 3 12B | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Classification and JSON / JSON / Tool use | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 33k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | $0.13/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 5 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Gemma 3 12B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.13/1M tokens.
- Gemma 3 12B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags Gemma 3 12B for Classification and JSON / Tool use.
- Qwen3.5-9B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3.5-9B uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-9B for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Gemma 3 12B
$64.50
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Qwen3.5-9B
$118
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Estimated monthly gap: $53.00. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.5-9B is $0.02/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Qwen3.5-9B adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Gemma 3 12B is $0.02/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-01-01 | 2026-03-02 |
| Context window | 33k | 262k |
| Parameters | 12B | 9B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Gemma | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-08 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Gemma 3 12B | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.04/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.13/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Gemma 3 12B | Qwen3.5-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Continue comparing
Popular comparisons for Gemma 3 12B
Popular comparisons for Qwen3.5-9B
Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.