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Gemma 2 9B vs Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Google · Microsoft · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 5 benchmarks (BoolQ, HellaSwag, MMLU, PIQA, Winogrande), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MBPP, Social IQa). Phi-3.5-mini-instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Gemma 2 9B

  • you are already invested in the Google ecosystem

Choose Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 11 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2024

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Gemma 2 9B
Google
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Microsoft
Benchmark wins
5 of 11
6 of 11
Input price
— / M
$0.10 / M
Output price
— / M
$0.10 / M
Context window
—
128,000
Released
Jun 2024
Aug 2024
License
Gemma
MIT

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

11 benchmarks

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 5 benchmarks (BoolQ, HellaSwag, MMLU, PIQA, Winogrande), while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is better at 6 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MBPP, Social IQa).

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

5.4B diff

Gemma 2 9B has 5.4B more parameters than Phi-3.5-mini-instruct, making it 143.2% larger.

Google
Gemma 2 9B
9.2Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
3.8Bparameters
9.2B
Gemma 2 9B
3.8B
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Phi-3.5-mini-instruct specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Phi-3.5-mini-instruct specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

Google
Gemma 2 9B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct uses MIT.

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

Gemma 2 9B

Gemma

Open weights

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 2 9B was released on 2024-06-27, while Phi-3.5-mini-instruct was released on 2024-08-23.

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is 2 months newer than Gemma 2 9B.

Gemma 2 9B

Jun 27, 2024

2.2 years ago

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct

Aug 23, 2024

2.0 years ago

1mo 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→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Gemma 2 9B and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Gemma 2 9B
✓ Preferred
Phi-3.5-mini-instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 2 9B vs Phi-3.5-mini-instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 2 9B or Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Phi-3.5-mini-instruct has a slight edge in benchmark performance. Gemma 2 9B is made by Google and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 2 9B compare to Phi-3.5-mini-instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 2 9B scores ARC-E: 88.0%, BoolQ: 84.2%, HellaSwag: 81.9%, PIQA: 81.7%, Winogrande: 80.6%. Phi-3.5-mini-instruct scores GSM8k: 86.2%, ARC-C: 84.6%, RULER: 84.1%, PIQA: 81.0%, OpenBookQA: 79.2%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 2 9B and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Gemma 2 9B supports an unknown number of tokens and Phi-3.5-mini-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 Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

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

Who makes Gemma 2 9B and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct?

Gemma 2 9B is developed by Google and Phi-3.5-mini-instruct is developed by Microsoft.

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