Model Comparison

Gemma 2 9B vs Phi-3.5-MoE-instructWhich is better in 2026?

Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 2 9B vs Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct — which is better?

Gemma 2 9B (by Google) and Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct (by Microsoft) 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 Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct is better at 11 benchmarks (ARC-C, BoolQ, GSM8k, HellaSwag, HumanEval, MATH, MBPP, MMLU, PIQA, Social IQa, Winogrande). Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 2 9B if…

  • you are already invested in the Google ecosystem

Choose Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct if…

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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

11 benchmarks

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct is better at 11 benchmarks (ARC-C, BoolQ, GSM8k, HellaSwag, HumanEval, MATH, MBPP, MMLU, PIQA, Social IQa, Winogrande).

Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 05 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

50.8B diff

Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct has 50.8B more parameters than Gemma 2 9B, making it 549.4% larger.

Google
Gemma 2 9B
9.2Bparameters
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct
60.0Bparameters
9.2B
Gemma 2 9B
60.0B
Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma, while Phi-3.5-MoE-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-MoE-instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

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

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

Gemma 2 9B

Jun 27, 2024

2.0 years ago

Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct

Aug 23, 2024

1.9 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→

Key Takeaways

Google

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

Microsoft
Higher ARC-C score (91.0% vs 68.4%)
Higher BoolQ score (84.6% vs 84.2%)
Higher GSM8k score (88.7% vs 68.6%)
Higher HellaSwag score (83.8% vs 81.9%)
Higher HumanEval score (70.7% vs 40.2%)
Higher MATH score (59.5% vs 36.6%)
Higher MBPP score (80.8% vs 52.4%)
Higher MMLU score (78.9% vs 71.3%)
Higher PIQA score (88.6% vs 81.7%)
Higher Social IQa score (78.0% vs 53.4%)
Higher Winogrande score (81.3% vs 80.6%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

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

Gemma 2 9B
✓ Preferred
Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 2 9B
Microsoft
Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct

FAQ

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

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

Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 2 9B is made by Google and Phi-3.5-MoE-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-MoE-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-MoE-instruct scores ARC-C: 91.0%, OpenBookQA: 89.6%, GSM8k: 88.7%, PIQA: 88.6%, RULER: 87.1%.

What are the main differences between Gemma 2 9B and Phi-3.5-MoE-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-MoE-instruct?

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

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