Model Comparison

Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.1 405B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.1 405B Instruct — which is better?

Gemma 2 9B (by Google) and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (by Meta) 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.

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU). Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 2 9B if…

  • you are already invested in the Google ecosystem

Choose Llama 3.1 405B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2024
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is better at 5 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU).

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

395.8B diff

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct has 395.8B more parameters than Gemma 2 9B, making it 4283.1% larger.

Google
Gemma 2 9B
9.2Bparameters
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
405.0Bparameters
9.2B
Gemma 2 9B
405.0B
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Llama 3.1 405B Instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Llama 3.1 405B Instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Google
Gemma 2 9B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct uses Llama 3.1 Community License.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Gemma 2 9B

Gemma

Open weights

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 2 9B was released on 2024-06-27, while Llama 3.1 405B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is 1 month newer than Gemma 2 9B.

Gemma 2 9B

Jun 27, 2024

2.0 years ago

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.9 years ago

3w newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Google

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Meta
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Higher ARC-C score (96.9% vs 68.4%)
Higher GSM8k score (96.8% vs 68.6%)
Higher HumanEval score (89.0% vs 40.2%)
Higher MATH score (73.8% vs 36.6%)
Higher MMLU score (87.3% vs 71.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 2 9B
Meta
Llama 3.1 405B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 2 9B or Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 2 9B is made by Google and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is made by Meta. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 2 9B compare to Llama 3.1 405B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 2 9B scores ARC-E: 88.0%, BoolQ: 84.2%, HellaSwag: 81.9%, PIQA: 81.7%, Winogrande: 80.6%. Llama 3.1 405B Instruct scores ARC-C: 96.9%, GSM8k: 96.8%, API-Bank: 92.0%, Multilingual MGSM (CoT): 91.6%, HumanEval: 89.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 2 9B and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Gemma 2 9B supports an unknown number of tokens and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemma 2 9B and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Key differences include licensing (Gemma vs Llama 3.1 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 2 9B and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?

Gemma 2 9B is developed by Google and Llama 3.1 405B Instruct is developed by Meta.

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