Gemma 3
Gemma 3 is worth evaluating for classification and json / tool use when its provider route and context window match the workload.
Use it for
- Teams evaluating classification and json / tool use
- Buyers comparing 3 tracked provider routes
Do not use it for
- Vision or document-understanding workloads
Cheapest of 3 routes · GCP Vertex AI
About
Lightweight, state-of-the-art open model built from the same technology that powers Gemini models. Available for free local deployment via Hugging Face and other hosting providers.
Top use-case fit
Classification
Included by capability and metadata signals in the decision map.
JSON / Tool use
Included by capability and metadata signals in the decision map.
Provider price ladder
Compare all 3Compare API pricing across 3 providers for input and output tokens, batch, and cached reads when available.
| Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCP Vertex AI | Free | Free | Serverless |
| Google AI Studio | Free | Free | Serverless |
| OpenRouter | $0.040 | $0.080 | Serverless |
Available via routers & gateways(13)
LiteLLM
GatewayOpen-source Python SDK and proxy server that unifies 100+ LLM APIs behind a single OpenAI-compatible interface, with load balancing, cost tracking, and configurable failover.
OpenRouter
HybridUnified hybrid gateway to 400+ models from 60+ providers via a single OpenAI-compatible API, with optional auto-routing that selects the best model per prompt.
Portkey
GatewayProduction AI gateway routing to 1,600+ LLMs with failover, load balancing, semantic caching, and guardrails; Apache 2.0 core is fully self-hostable with the complete feature set.
AIRouter
RouterCommercial LLM router that analyzes incoming requests and routes to the optimal model for cost/quality/latency via a drop-in OpenAI-compatible API, with a privacy-preserving embedding mode that avoids sending prompt content.
Helicone
GatewayObservability-first AI gateway with routing, caching, rate limiting, and request tracing; Apache 2.0 open-source core with a managed hosted tier for logging and analytics.
Kong AI Gateway
GatewayMulti-LLM AI gateway built on Kong Gateway 3.x, adding semantic routing, load balancing, guardrails, and MCP traffic analytics as plugins over Kong's existing API management platform.
Capabilities
Benchmark peer barsfor Classification
No task-mapped benchmark peers are available for this model yet.
Migration checks
No linked migration route is available for this model yet.
Rankings & picks(1)
Compare Gemma 3 with other models
Cheapest of 3 routes · GCP Vertex AI