Gemma 4 12B vs Qwen3.5 9B
Neither has a clear lead on the index. Qwen3.5 9B is the smaller download at 5.7 GB, so it runs on cheaper hardware.
| Gemma 4 12B | Qwen3.5 9B | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence index | 14 | 14 |
| Class | Below every hosted tier | Below every hosted tier |
| Weights | 7.1 GB | 5.7 GB |
| Quantisation | Q4_K_M | Q4_K_M |
| Parameters | 12B | 9.7B |
| Max context | 256k | 256k |
| API price per 1M | $0.08 in / $0.13 out | $0.08 in / $0.13 out |
| Licence | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Cheapest machine that runs it | Mac mini M6, 16GB $899 | Mac mini M6, 16GB $899 |
| Summarising | not rated | not rated |
| Translation | not rated | not rated |
| Everyday coding | not rated | not rated |
| Reasoning & maths | not rated | not rated |
| Agentic work | not rated | not rated |
Ratings are coarse on purpose. Speeds and pay-back depend on the machine — open either model's page for the full list, or see both against the frontier. Context is 32k throughout.