Claude Opus 4.6 vs Gemma 4 12B
Wins 6 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Math · Long documents
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Following instructions
Claude Opus 4.6 is the stronger all-rounder.Gemma 4 12B is cheaper and better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 25 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software30Claude Opus 4.63 of 3 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking30Claude Opus 4.63 of 3 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up20Claude Opus 4.62 of 2 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts20Claude Opus 4.62 of 2 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own10Claude Opus 4.61 of 1 test
- MathCompetition and research-level math10Claude Opus 4.61 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01Gemma 4 12B1 of 1 test
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video11Even1 each
Agents, math and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Gemma 4 12B costs 99% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Claude Opus 4.6 pulls ahead
- Finds one of eight look-alike replies in a long chatMRCR v2 8 needle 128k (average)+40.6points ahead
- Answers hard knowledge questions correctlyAA-Omniscience · Accuracy+31.4points ahead
- Hard command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench Hard+28points ahead
Where Gemma 4 12B pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+20.4points ahead
- Reads and reasons about text in imagesOCRBenchv2+3.4points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 25 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingClaude Opus 4.6
- Terminal-Bench HardClaude Opus 4.6 by 2846.218.2+28
- LiveCodeBench v6Claude Opus 4.6 by 16.888.872+16.8
- SciCodeClaude Opus 4.6 by 13.751.938.2+13.7
ReasoningClaude Opus 4.6
- Humanity's Last ExamClaude Opus 4.6 by 24.239.915.7+24.2
- GPQA DiamondClaude Opus 4.6 by 14.389.675.3+14.3
- CritPtClaude Opus 4.6 by 12.612.60+12.6
FactsClaude Opus 4.6
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyClaude Opus 4.6 by 31.44715.6+31.4
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationClaude Opus 4.6 by 18.237.219+18.2
Images and chartsEven
- MMMU-ProClaude Opus 4.6 by 5.775.469.7+5.7
- OCRBenchv2Gemma 4 12B by 3.448.451.8+3.4
Long documentsClaude Opus 4.6
- MRCR v2 8 needle 128k (average)Claude Opus 4.6 by 40.68443.4+40.6
- AA-LCRClaude Opus 4.6 by 14.37863.7+14.3
Following instructionsGemma 4 12B
- IFBenchGemma 4 12B by 20.453.173.5+20.4
Other results10 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceClaude Opus 4.6 by 66.413.7-52.7+66.4
- AA Agentic IndexClaude Opus 4.6 by 59.767.67.9+59.7
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Claude Opus 4.6 by 55.892.136.3+55.8
- HLE (with tools)Claude Opus 4.6 by 48.153.35.2+48.1
- OCRBench v2 (Chinese)Claude Opus 4.6 by 22.359.837.5+22.3
- AA IntelligenceClaude Opus 4.6 by 17.731.914.2+17.7
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexClaude Opus 4.6 by 17.148.131+17.1
- MATH-VisionGemma 4 12B by 14.265.579.7+14.2
- MMLU-ProClaude Opus 4.6 by 11.989.177.2+11.9
- MMMLUClaude Opus 4.6 by 7.791.183.4+7.7
Questions people ask
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.6 or Gemma 4 12B?
Claude Opus 4.6 wins six of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, math and long documents. Gemma 4 12B wins following instructions, and costs 99% less. They are level on images and charts.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 4.6. It wins 3 of the 3 coding tests both models report; Gemma 4 12B wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.00 per million input tokens and $25.00 per million output tokens; Gemma 4 12B costs $0.10 and $0.30. That makes Gemma 4 12B about 99% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 25 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 15 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 10 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.