Compare/Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning) vs Step 3.5 Flash 2603

Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning)vsStep 3.5 Flash 2603

Side-by-side comparison of pricing, 12 benchmarks, and generation speed.

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Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning)

Input
$0.1/M
Output
$0.3/M
Speed
143 tok/s
TTFT
1.33s
StepFun

Step 3.5 Flash 2603

Input
$0.1/M
Output
$0.3/M
Speed
180 tok/s
TTFT
0.92s

Winner by Category

Cheaper
Tie
Faster (tok/s)
Step 3.5 Flash 2603
Lower Latency
Step 3.5 Flash 2603
Benchmarks (1-5)
Step 3.5 Flash 2603

Pricing Comparison

MetricGemma 4 12B (Reasoning)Step 3.5 Flash 2603
Input ($/M tokens)$0.1$0.1
Output ($/M tokens)$0.3$0.3
Cost for 1M input + 100K output tokens:
Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning)$0.13
Step 3.5 Flash 2603$0.13

Speed Comparison

Output Speed (tokens/s) — higher is better
Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning)
143 tok/s
Step 3.5 Flash 2603
180 tok/s
Time to First Token (seconds) — lower is better
Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning)
1.33s
Step 3.5 Flash 2603
0.92s

Benchmark Comparison

Data from Artificial Analysis API — 12 benchmarks

Intelligence Index
22.026.0
Coding Index
Math Index
GPQA Diamond
75.3%82.6%
MMLU-Pro
LiveCodeBench
AIME 2025
MATH-500
Humanity's Last Exam
14.8%22.6%
SciCode
38.2%38.5%
IFBench
73.5%66.5%
TerminalBench
18.2%32.6%
Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning)1 wins
5 winsStep 3.5 Flash 2603

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning) or Step 3.5 Flash 2603?

Both models have similar pricing. Check the detailed breakdown above for input vs output token costs.

Which model performs better on benchmarks?

Step 3.5 Flash 2603 wins 5 out of 12 benchmarks compared to 1 for Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning). See the detailed benchmark chart above for per-category results.

Which is faster for real-time applications?

Step 3.5 Flash 2603 generates tokens faster at 180 tok/s vs 143 tok/s. However, Step 3.5 Flash 2603 has lower time-to-first-token (0.92s vs 1.33s).

When should I use Gemma 4 12B (Reasoning) vs Step 3.5 Flash 2603?

Choose based on your priorities: both are similarly priced, Step 3.5 Flash 2603 for stronger benchmark performance, and Step 3.5 Flash 2603 for faster generation. For latency-sensitive apps, check the TTFT comparison above.