Gemma 3 1B vs Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking leads the LLM Stats Score 12.9 to -10.5.
Google · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking leads the overall LLM Stats Score 12.9 to -10.5, ranking #249 overall.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Gemma 3 1B
- you are already invested in the Google ecosystem
Choose Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking
- overall performance matters — it scores 12.9 and ranks #249 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 3 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
18 reported for Gemma 3 1B · 48 for Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking
Gemma 3 1B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, IFEval, MMLU-Pro).
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking has 3.0B more parameters than Gemma 3 1B, making it 300.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking specifies input context (262,144 tokens). Only Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking specifies output context (262,144 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Gemma 3 1B does not.
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Gemma 3 1B
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Gemma 3 1B is licensed under Gemma, while Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Gemma
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Gemma 3 1B was released on 2025-03-12, while Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking is 6 months newer than Gemma 3 1B.
Mar 12, 2025
1.5 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
12 months ago
6mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Gemma 3 1B and Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Gemma 3 1B vs Qwen3 VL 4B Thinking.