Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs. It handles context windows up to 128k tokens, understands over 140 languages, and offers improved math, reasoning, and chat capabilities,...
Model details →Google: Gemma 3 12B vs Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free)
Google: Gemma 3 12B and Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) are evenly matched on 6 axes — pick the one whose provider, latency, or licensing fits your stack.
Llama 3.2 3B is a 3-billion-parameter multilingual large language model, optimized for advanced natural language processing tasks like dialogue generation, reasoning, and summarization. Designed with the latest transformer architecture, it …
Model details →Side-by-side comparison
| Capability | Google: Gemma 3 12B | Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Context window Maximum number of input tokens the model can attend to in a single request. | 131K | 131K | Tie |
| Input price (per 1M) Cost per million input tokens billed by the provider. | $0.05 | $0.00 | 🏆 Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) |
| Output price (per 1M) Cost per million output tokens billed by the provider. | $0.15 | $0.00 | 🏆 Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) |
| Tool / function calling First-class support for emitting structured tool calls. | Yes | — | 🏆 Google: Gemma 3 12B |
| Vision input Accepts image inputs alongside text. | Yes | — | 🏆 Google: Gemma 3 12B |
| Reasoning mode Internal chain-of-thought / extended-thinking support. | — | — | Tie |
Frequently asked questions
Is Google: Gemma 3 12B better than Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free)?
Google: Gemma 3 12B and Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) are evenly matched on 6 axes — pick the one whose provider, latency, or licensing fits your stack.
What's the price difference between Google: Gemma 3 12B and Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free)?
Input: $0.05 vs $0.00 per 1M tokens. Output: $0.15 vs $0.00 per 1M tokens.
What context windows do Google: Gemma 3 12B and Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) support?
Google: Gemma 3 12B supports up to 131K tokens. Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) supports up to 131K tokens.
Do both Google: Gemma 3 12B and Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free) support tool calling?
Google: Gemma 3 12B: yes. Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct (free): not advertised.