Model Comparison

Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MMLU), while Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (ARC-C, HumanEval).

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Fri Jun 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1.2B diff

Gemma 2 9B has 1.2B more parameters than Llama 3.1 8B Instruct, making it 15.5% larger.

Google
Gemma 2 9B
9.2Bparameters
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
8.0Bparameters
9.2B
Gemma 2 9B
8.0B
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Llama 3.1 8B Instruct specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Llama 3.1 8B Instruct specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

Google
Gemma 2 9B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Fri Jun 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma, while Llama 3.1 8B 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 8B 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 8B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is 1 month newer than Gemma 2 9B.

Gemma 2 9B

Jun 27, 2024

1.9 years ago

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.9 years ago

3w newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Gemma 2 9B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Llama 3.1 8B Instruct's training data extends to 2023-12-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Gemma 2 9B's cutoff date.

Gemma 2 9B

—

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

Dec 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Google
Higher MMLU score (71.3% vs 69.4%)
Meta
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Higher ARC-C score (83.4% vs 68.4%)
Higher HumanEval score (72.6% vs 40.2%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 2 9B
Meta
Llama 3.1 8B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.1 8B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 2 9B or Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Llama 3.1 8B Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Gemma 2 9B is made by Google and Llama 3.1 8B 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 8B 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 8B Instruct scores GSM-8K (CoT): 84.5%, ARC-C: 83.4%, API-Bank: 82.6%, IFEval: 80.4%, BFCL: 76.1%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 2 9B and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct?

Gemma 2 9B supports an unknown number of tokens and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct supports 131K 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 8B 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 8B Instruct?

Gemma 2 9B is developed by Google and Llama 3.1 8B Instruct is developed by Meta.