Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B

    Comparison

    As of August 25, 2026, Pixtral-12B is 43% cheaper per million tokens than Gemma 4 26B-A4B. Gemma 4 26B-A4B is $0.13 / $0.40 per million input/output tokens versus Pixtral-12B at $0.15 / $0.15. Sources: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing and https://docs.mistral.ai/platform/pricing/

    Sources: Gemini API pricing (https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing); Mistral AI pricing (https://docs.mistral.ai/platform/pricing/)

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B

    Google

    $0.53blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.13

    Output

    $0.40

    262.1K ctx|Open Source
    43%
    cheaper
    Better value

    Pixtral-12B

    Mistral

    $0.30blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.15

    Output

    $0.15

    128K ctx|Open Source
    Save $0.23 per million tokens by choosing Pixtral-12B over Gemma 4 26B-A4B.

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B comparison

    Token pricing, specs, and benchmarks side by side

    Metric
    Gemma 4 26B-A4B
    Pixtral-12B
    Provider
    Provider
    Google
    Mistral
    License
    Open Source
    Open Source
    Release Date
    2026-04-02
    2024-09-17
    Pricing (per 1M tokens)
    Input Price-13%
    $0.13
    $0.15
    Output Price+167%
    $0.40
    $0.15
    Blended (1M + 1M)
    $0.53
    $0.30
    Model Details
    Context Window
    262.1K
    128K
    Max Output Tokens
    131.1K
    8.2K
    Knowledge Cutoff
    2025-01-01
    N/A
    Throughput
    N/A
    0.1 tok/s
    Benchmarks
    17.2%
    82.3%
    40.0%
    61.3%
    73.8%
    86.3%
    69.2%
    52.5%
    72%
    48.1%
    88.3%
    81.8%
    0%
    90.7%
    82.4%
    58%
    58.1%
    52.7%
    60.5%
    82.6%
    44.1%
    76.8%
    85.5%
    78.6%

    Verdict

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B: the bottom line

    Both models are closely matched on benchmarks. Pixtral-12B has the pricing advantage, making it the better value unless Gemma 4 26B-A4B's specific capabilities are critical to your workflow.

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B FAQ

    Which is cheaper, Gemma 4 26B-A4B or Pixtral-12B?

    As of August 25, 2026, Pixtral-12B is 43% cheaper on blended LLM API pricing. Pixtral-12B costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.15 per million output tokens ($0.30 blended 1M-in + 1M-out). Gemma 4 26B-A4B costs $0.13 / $0.40 per million tokens ($0.53 blended). Sources: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing and https://docs.mistral.ai/platform/pricing/. The cheapest LLM for your app still depends on how many output tokens you generate.

    How much does Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B cost per million tokens?

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B Gemini API pricing is $0.13 input and $0.40 output per million tokens via Google. Pixtral-12B Mistral API pricing is $0.15 input and $0.15 output per million tokens via Mistral AI. Use those four numbers, not ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription prices, when you are comparing APIs.

    Which is better for coding, Gemma 4 26B-A4B or Pixtral-12B?

    Pixtral-12B has a published HumanEval score of 72%. Gemma 4 26B-A4B does not have that eval on this page yet.

    What is the context window for Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B?

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B supports a 262K token context window, while Pixtral-12B supports 128K tokens. Gemma 4 26B-A4B offers a larger context window. Filling a larger window bills more input tokens, so the cheaper-per-million model can still cost more on long documents.

    Which model performs better on benchmarks, Gemma 4 26B-A4B or Pixtral-12B?

    Shared benchmark scores for Gemma 4 26B-A4B and Pixtral-12B are still limited. Check the comparison table for the evals each model has published. Check the comparison table for GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench, MMLU, HLE, and the other evals we track. Token price and benchmark score together are the usual LLM comparison, not either number alone.

    Is Gemma 4 26B-A4B or Pixtral-12B better for production use?

    Both Gemma 4 26B-A4B and Pixtral-12B are production API models. For cost-sensitive production traffic, Pixtral-12B has better economics on the blended 1M-in + 1M-out scale. For maximum capability, weight the benchmark table for your domain. Many production stacks route cheap models for drafts and a frontier model for the hard turn, which is usually cheaper than sending everything to the expensive API.

    Can I switch between Gemma 4 26B-A4B and Pixtral-12B in my app?

    Yes. Call Gemma 4 26B-A4B through Google and Pixtral-12B through Mistral AI with separate API keys, or through a gateway that already wraps both. Keep prompts in tokens, not characters, when you estimate the invoice. AnotherWrapper templates can swap providers without rewriting auth and billing.

    How accurate is this Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B pricing data?

    List rates are the latest published Gemini API pricing and Mistral API pricing, quoted per million tokens. Official rate sheets: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing and https://docs.mistral.ai/platform/pricing/. Prompt caching, batch APIs, and committed-use discounts can change the invoice. Benchmark scores are from official publications and independent evals, updated as new numbers land.

    What is the output token limit for Gemma 4 26B-A4B and Pixtral-12B?

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B supports up to 131K output tokens per request, while Pixtral-12B supports up to 8K output tokens. Output tokens are usually the expensive half of API pricing, so a higher max output cap is a capability, not a discount.

    Which model has better throughput, Gemma 4 26B-A4B or Pixtral-12B?

    Pixtral-12B has a measured throughput of approximately 0.1 tokens/second. Throughput data for Gemma 4 26B-A4B is not yet available. Throughput (tokens per second) and time-to-first-token are why two models with the same per-million-token price can still feel different in chat and agents.

    How do I switch the models in this Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B comparison?

    Use the model pickers at the top of this LLM comparison. Search any model in the index and the URL updates. Open Gemma 4 26B-A4B or Pixtral-12B from the sidebar for the single-model API pricing page, or go back to the LLM pricing table to sort by cheapest blended cost.

    Gemma 4 26B-A4B vs Pixtral-12B pricing

    This comparison covers API pricing, context window, throughput, and benchmark scores. Gemma 4 26B-A4B costs $0.13/M input and $0.40/M output. Pixtral-12B costs $0.15/M input and $0.15/M output via Mistral AI.

    Rank both on the LLM leaderboard, SWE-bench, and Humanity's Last Exam.

    The index

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