Model Comparison

Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.2 11B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.2 11B Instruct — which is better?

Gemma 2 9B (by Google) and Llama 3.2 11B 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 3.2 11B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (MATH, MMLU). Llama 3.2 11B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 2 9B if…

  • you are already invested in the Google ecosystem

Choose Llama 3.2 11B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2024
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (MATH, MMLU).

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Jun 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1.4B diff

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct has 1.4B more parameters than Gemma 2 9B, making it 14.7% larger.

Google
Gemma 2 9B
9.2Bparameters
Meta
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct
10.6Bparameters
9.2B
Gemma 2 9B
10.6B
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Llama 3.2 11B Instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Llama 3.2 11B Instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Google
Gemma 2 9B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Meta
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Thu Jun 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Gemma 2 9B does not.

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemma 2 9B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct uses Llama 3.2 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 3.2 11B Instruct

Llama 3.2 Community License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 2 9B was released on 2024-06-27, while Llama 3.2 11B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25.

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is 3 months newer than Gemma 2 9B.

Gemma 2 9B

Jun 27, 2024

2.0 years ago

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct

Sep 25, 2024

1.7 years ago

3mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-31, while Gemma 2 9B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Llama 3.2 11B 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 3.2 11B Instruct

Dec 2023

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)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher MATH score (51.9% vs 36.6%)
Higher MMLU score (73.0% vs 71.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 2 9B
Meta
Llama 3.2 11B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 2 9B vs Llama 3.2 11B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 2 9B or Llama 3.2 11B Instruct?

Llama 3.2 11B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 2 9B is made by Google and Llama 3.2 11B 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 3.2 11B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 2 9B scores ARC-E: 88.0%, BoolQ: 84.2%, HellaSwag: 81.9%, PIQA: 81.7%, Winogrande: 80.6%. Llama 3.2 11B Instruct scores AI2D: 91.1%, DocVQA: 88.4%, ChartQA: 83.4%, VQAv2 (test): 75.2%, MMLU: 73.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 2 9B and Llama 3.2 11B Instruct?

Gemma 2 9B supports an unknown number of tokens and Llama 3.2 11B 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 3.2 11B Instruct?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Gemma vs Llama 3.2 Community License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 2 9B and Llama 3.2 11B Instruct?

Gemma 2 9B is developed by Google and Llama 3.2 11B Instruct is developed by Meta.

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