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Google: Gemma 3 12B vs stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview

Try both on us. Starter credit covers your first requests, then one key routes Gemma 3 12B and stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview. Switch by changing the model name.

Compare routesProviders, price, context, and policy posture in one view.

Use auto when uptime mattersKeep a primary model and let fallback handle provider failures.

Same API shapeUse the OpenAI client and set the model you want.

Practical read

Monthly evidence

Google: Gemma 3 12B has the lower published input-plus-output rate, more Credits provider routes and the lower measured p50 time to first token. stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview has the larger context window.

$0.15825/1MGoogle: Gemma 3 12B cheapest route

$3.9035/1Mstepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview cheapest route

1152 msGoogle: Gemma 3 12B fastest measured p50 TTFT via amazon-bedrock

2239 msstepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview fastest measured p50 TTFT via nvidia-nim

The price comparison adds each route's rate for one million input tokens and one million output tokens; your cost depends on your input/output mix. Prices and live route measurements can change. Use the monthly reports when you need a stable evidence window, then run a small task-specific eval before choosing a production default.

Google: Gemma 3 12Bstepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview

Model idgoogle/gemma-3-12b-itstepfun-ai/step-5-preview

Publisher Google AI Studio StepFun

AI IQ — —

Context131,072 tokens1,048,576 tokens

Credits provider routes63

Cheapest route$0.15825/1M$3.9035/1M

Cached input$0.05275/1M$0.05275/1M

Privacy posturehas ZDR routehas ZDR route

Fastest measured p50 TTFT1152 ms via amazon-bedrock2239 ms via nvidia-nim

Highest measured throughputnot enough datanot enough data

Recent route uptime range100.00%33.33% to 100.00%

Modes chat chat

Google: Gemma 3 12B routes

Overview6 Credits routes
PricingInput, cached input, and output rates
ProvidersAll serving providers

stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview routes

Overview3 Credits routes
PricingInput, cached input, and output rates
ProvidersAll serving providers

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DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 vs Google: Gemma 3 12B32 combined provider routes

Production choice

Pick a default model. Keep fallback enabled.

TrustedRouter is useful when you know the model you want, but still need provider rollover, budget limits, usage records, and a prompt path you can verify.

OpenAI clientPython

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.trustedrouter.com/v1",
    api_key="sk-tr-v1-..."
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="google/gemma-3-12b-it",
    messages=messages,
)

Questions

Which should I use, Google: Gemma 3 12B or stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview?

Is Google: Gemma 3 12B or stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview cheaper?

The current cheapest TrustedRouter route is $0.15825/1M for Google: Gemma 3 12B and $3.9035/1M for stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview. The comparison uses current catalog prices and updates as provider pricing changes.

Is Google: Gemma 3 12B or stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview faster?

Current measured p50 time to first token is 1152 ms for Google: Gemma 3 12B and 2239 ms for stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview. These are routed probe measurements, not vendor-advertised speeds, and update as new samples arrive.

Can I test Google: Gemma 3 12B and stepfun-ai/Step-5-Preview with the same API?

Yes. Use the same OpenAI-compatible TrustedRouter base URL and API key, then change only the model id between google/gemma-3-12b-it and stepfun-ai/step-5-preview. This makes side-by-side evals possible without maintaining two provider integrations.