Model Comparison

Gemma 3 1B vs Qwen2.5 72B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 3 1B vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct — which is better?

Gemma 3 1B (by Google) and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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 3 1B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is better at 8 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, IFEval, LiveCodeBench, MATH, MBPP, MMLU-Pro). Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 3 1B if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2025

Choose Qwen2.5 72B Instruct if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 8 of 8 shared benchmarks
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

8 benchmarks

Gemma 3 1B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is better at 8 benchmarks (GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, IFEval, LiveCodeBench, MATH, MBPP, MMLU-Pro).

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Jun 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

71.7B diff

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct has 71.7B more parameters than Gemma 3 1B, making it 7170.0% larger.

Google
Gemma 3 1B
1.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
72.7Bparameters
1.0B
Gemma 3 1B
72.7B
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct specifies output context (8,192 tokens).

Google
Gemma 3 1B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Input131,072 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Wed Jun 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3 1B is licensed under Gemma, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct uses Qwen.

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

Gemma 3 1B

Gemma

Open weights

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

Qwen

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3 1B was released on 2025-03-12, while Qwen2.5 72B Instruct was released on 2024-09-19.

Gemma 3 1B is 6 months newer than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.

Gemma 3 1B

Mar 12, 2025

1.3 years ago

5mo newer
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

Sep 19, 2024

1.8 years ago

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.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (49.0% vs 19.2%)
Higher GSM8k score (95.8% vs 62.8%)
Higher HumanEval score (86.6% vs 41.5%)
Higher IFEval score (84.1% vs 80.2%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (55.5% vs 1.9%)
Higher MATH score (83.1% vs 48.0%)
Higher MBPP score (88.2% vs 35.2%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (71.1% vs 14.7%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 3 1B
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3 1B vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 3 1B or Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

Qwen2.5 72B Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 3 1B is made by Google and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 3 1B compare to Qwen2.5 72B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 3 1B scores IFEval: 80.2%, GSM8k: 62.8%, Natural2Code: 56.0%, MATH: 48.0%, HumanEval: 41.5%. Qwen2.5 72B Instruct scores GSM8k: 95.8%, MT-Bench: 93.5%, MBPP: 88.2%, MMLU-Redux: 86.8%, HumanEval: 86.6%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3 1B and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

Gemma 3 1B supports an unknown number of tokens and Qwen2.5 72B 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 3 1B and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

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

Who makes Gemma 3 1B and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?

Gemma 3 1B is developed by Google and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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