Model Comparison

Gemma 2 9B vs o3-miniWhich is better in 2026?

o3-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 2 9B vs o3-mini — which is better?

Gemma 2 9B (by Google) and o3-mini (by OpenAI) 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 o3-mini is better at 2 benchmarks (MATH, MMLU). o3-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 2 9B if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose o3-mini if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jan 2025
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o3-mini is better at 2 benchmarks (MATH, MMLU).

o3-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jun 19 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only o3-mini specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only o3-mini specifies output context (100,000 tokens).

Google
Gemma 2 9B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
OpenAI
o3-mini
Input200,000 tokens
Output100,000 tokens
Fri Jun 19 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma, while o3-mini uses a proprietary license.

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

Gemma 2 9B

Gemma

Open weights

o3-mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 2 9B was released on 2024-06-27, while o3-mini was released on 2025-01-30.

o3-mini is 7 months newer than Gemma 2 9B.

Gemma 2 9B

Jun 27, 2024

2.0 years ago

o3-mini

Jan 30, 2025

1.4 years ago

7mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

o3-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-09-30, while Gemma 2 9B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm o3-mini's training data extends to 2023-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Gemma 2 9B's cutoff date.

Gemma 2 9B

—

o3-mini

Sep 2023

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Google
Has open weights
OpenAI
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Higher MATH score (97.9% vs 36.6%)
Higher MMLU score (86.9% vs 71.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 2 9B
OpenAI
o3-mini

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 2 9B vs o3-mini.

Which is better, Gemma 2 9B or o3-mini?

o3-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 2 9B is made by Google and o3-mini is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 2 9B compare to o3-mini in benchmarks?

Gemma 2 9B scores ARC-E: 88.0%, BoolQ: 84.2%, HellaSwag: 81.9%, PIQA: 81.7%, Winogrande: 80.6%. o3-mini scores COLLIE: 98.7%, MATH: 97.9%, IFEval: 93.9%, MGSM: 92.0%, AIME 2024: 87.3%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 2 9B and o3-mini?

Gemma 2 9B supports an unknown number of tokens and o3-mini supports 200K 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 o3-mini?

Key differences include licensing (Gemma vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 2 9B and o3-mini?

Gemma 2 9B is developed by Google and o3-mini is developed by OpenAI.

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