Model Comparison

Gemma 3 27B vs Qwen2 72B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Gemma 3 27B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 3 27B vs Qwen2 72B Instruct — which is better?

Gemma 3 27B (by Google) and Qwen2 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 27B outperforms in 4 benchmarks (GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2 72B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MBPP). Gemma 3 27B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 3 27B if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 6 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Mar 2025

Choose Qwen2 72B Instruct if…

  • you are already invested in the Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team ecosystem
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

6 benchmarks

Gemma 3 27B outperforms in 4 benchmarks (GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen2 72B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (MBPP).

Gemma 3 27B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Fri Jun 12 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

45.0B diff

Qwen2 72B Instruct has 45.0B more parameters than Gemma 3 27B, making it 166.7% larger.

Google
Gemma 3 27B
27.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2 72B Instruct
72.0Bparameters
27.0B
Gemma 3 27B
72.0B
Qwen2 72B Instruct

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
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2 72B Instruct
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Fri Jun 12 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Gemma 3 27B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen2 72B Instruct does not.

Gemma 3 27B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Gemma 3 27B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen2 72B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 3 27B is licensed under Gemma, while Qwen2 72B Instruct uses tongyi-qianwen.

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

Gemma 3 27B

Gemma

Open weights

Qwen2 72B Instruct

tongyi-qianwen

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 3 27B was released on 2025-03-12, while Qwen2 72B Instruct was released on 2024-07-23.

Gemma 3 27B is 8 months newer than Qwen2 72B Instruct.

Gemma 3 27B

Mar 12, 2025

1.3 years ago

7mo newer
Qwen2 72B Instruct

Jul 23, 2024

1.9 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
Larger context window (131,072 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GSM8k score (95.9% vs 91.1%)
Higher HumanEval score (87.8% vs 86.0%)
Higher MATH score (89.0% vs 59.7%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (67.5% vs 64.4%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen2 72B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher MBPP score (80.2% vs 74.4%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 3 27B
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen2 72B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 3 27B vs Qwen2 72B Instruct.

Which is better, Gemma 3 27B or Qwen2 72B Instruct?

Gemma 3 27B shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Gemma 3 27B is made by Google and Qwen2 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 27B compare to Qwen2 72B Instruct in benchmarks?

Gemma 3 27B scores GSM8k: 95.9%, IFEval: 90.4%, MATH: 89.0%, HumanEval: 87.8%, BIG-Bench Hard: 87.6%. Qwen2 72B Instruct scores GSM8k: 91.1%, CMMLU: 90.1%, HellaSwag: 87.6%, HumanEval: 86.0%, Winogrande: 85.1%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 3 27B and Qwen2 72B Instruct?

Gemma 3 27B supports 131K tokens and Qwen2 72B Instruct 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 Qwen2 72B Instruct?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Gemma vs tongyi-qianwen). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 3 27B and Qwen2 72B Instruct?

Gemma 3 27B is developed by Google and Qwen2 72B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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