Model Comparison
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Gemma 3 27BWhich is better in 2026?
Gemma 3 27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Verdict: DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Gemma 3 27B — which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B (by DeepSeek) and Gemma 3 27B (by Google) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 3 27B is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench). Gemma 3 27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B if…
- you are already invested in the DeepSeek ecosystem
Choose Gemma 3 27B if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Gemma 3 27B is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench).
Gemma 3 27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Gemma 3 27B has 25.2B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B, making it 1416.9% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Gemma 3 27B specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Gemma 3 27B specifies output context (131,072 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Gemma 3 27B supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B does not.
Gemma 3 27B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B
Gemma 3 27B
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B is licensed under MIT, while Gemma 3 27B uses Gemma.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Gemma
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B was released on 2025-01-20, while Gemma 3 27B was released on 2025-03-12.
Gemma 3 27B is 2 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B.
Jan 20, 2025
1.5 years ago
Mar 12, 2025
1.3 years ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
Gemma 3 27B
View detailsDetailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and Gemma 3 27B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs Gemma 3 27B.