Ministral 3 8B vs Gemma 3 12B it
Ministral 3 8B scores higher on the intelligence index — 5 against 4. Ministral 3 8B is the smaller download at 5.2 GB, so it runs on cheaper hardware.
| Ministral 3 8B | Gemma 3 12B it | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence index | 5 | 4 |
| Class | Below every hosted tier | Below every hosted tier |
| Weights | 5.2 GB | 7.3 GB |
| Quantisation | Q4_K_M | Q4_K_M |
| Parameters | 8.9B | 12.2B |
| Max context | 256k | 128k |
| API price per 1M | $0.15 in / $0.15 out | $0.05 in / $0.15 out |
| Licence | Apache 2.0 | Gemma Terms of Use |
| Cheapest machine that runs it | Mac mini M6, 16GB $899 | Mac mini M6, 16GB $899 |
| Summarising | not rated | good |
| Translation | not rated | good |
| Everyday coding | not rated | usable |
| Reasoning & maths | not rated | don’t |
| Agentic work | not rated | don’t |
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.