Model Comparison

Gemma 3 27B vs Gemma 3n E2B InstructedWhich is better in 2026?

Gemma 3 27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 3 27B vs Gemma 3n E2B Instructed — which is better?

Gemma 3 27B (by Google) and Gemma 3n E2B Instructed (by Google) 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 27B outperforms in 9 benchmarks (ECLeKTic, Global-MMLU-Lite, GPQA, HiddenMath, HumanEval, LiveCodeBench, MBPP, MMLU-Pro, WMT24++), while Gemma 3n E2B Instructed is better at 0 benchmarks. Gemma 3 27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 3 27B if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 9 of 9 shared benchmarks
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Gemma 3n E2B Instructed if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

9 benchmarks

Gemma 3 27B outperforms in 9 benchmarks (ECLeKTic, Global-MMLU-Lite, GPQA, HiddenMath, HumanEval, LiveCodeBench, MBPP, MMLU-Pro, WMT24++), while Gemma 3n E2B Instructed is better at 0 benchmarks.

Gemma 3 27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Jun 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

19.0B diff

Gemma 3 27B has 19.0B more parameters than Gemma 3n E2B Instructed, making it 237.5% larger.

Google
Gemma 3 27B
27.0Bparameters
Google
Gemma 3n E2B Instructed
8.0Bparameters
27.0B
Gemma 3 27B
8.0B
Gemma 3n E2B Instructed

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Gemma 3 27B specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Gemma 3 27B specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

Google
Gemma 3 27B
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Google
Gemma 3n E2B Instructed
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mon Jun 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Gemma 3 27B and Gemma 3n E2B Instructed support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Gemma 3 27B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Gemma 3n E2B Instructed

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3 27B is licensed under Gemma, while Gemma 3n E2B Instructed uses a proprietary license.

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

Gemma 3 27B

Gemma

Open weights

Gemma 3n E2B Instructed

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3 27B was released on 2025-03-12, while Gemma 3n E2B Instructed was released on 2025-06-26.

Gemma 3n E2B Instructed is 4 months newer than Gemma 3 27B.

Gemma 3 27B

Mar 12, 2025

1.3 years ago

Gemma 3n E2B Instructed

Jun 26, 2025

11 months ago

3mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Gemma 3n E2B Instructed has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-06-01, while Gemma 3 27B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Gemma 3n E2B Instructed's training data extends to 2024-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Gemma 3 27B's cutoff date.

Gemma 3 27B

—

Gemma 3n E2B Instructed

Jun 2024

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Google
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Has open weights
Higher ECLeKTic score (16.7% vs 2.5%)
Higher Global-MMLU-Lite score (75.1% vs 59.0%)
Higher GPQA score (42.4% vs 24.8%)
Higher HiddenMath score (60.3% vs 27.7%)
Higher HumanEval score (87.8% vs 66.5%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (29.7% vs 13.2%)
Higher MBPP score (74.4% vs 56.6%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (67.5% vs 40.5%)
Higher WMT24++ score (53.4% vs 42.7%)
Google

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

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 3 27B
Google
Gemma 3n E2B Instructed

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3 27B vs Gemma 3n E2B Instructed.

Which is better, Gemma 3 27B or Gemma 3n E2B Instructed?

Gemma 3 27B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 3 27B is made by Google and Gemma 3n E2B Instructed is made by Google. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 3 27B compare to Gemma 3n E2B Instructed in benchmarks?

Gemma 3 27B scores GSM8k: 95.9%, IFEval: 90.4%, MATH: 89.0%, HumanEval: 87.8%, BIG-Bench Hard: 87.6%. Gemma 3n E2B Instructed scores HumanEval: 66.5%, MMLU: 60.1%, Global-MMLU-Lite: 59.0%, MBPP: 56.6%, Global-MMLU: 55.1%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3 27B and Gemma 3n E2B Instructed?

Gemma 3 27B supports 131K tokens and Gemma 3n E2B Instructed supports an unknown number of 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 27B and Gemma 3n E2B Instructed?

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

Related comparisons