Gemma 3 4B vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Gemma 3 4B is 19.5x cheaper per token.
Google · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Gemma 3 4B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (IFEval), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro). Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Gemma 3 4B is roughly 19.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Gemma 3 4B also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Gemma 3 4B
- cost matters — it's about 19.5x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 3 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Gemma 3 4B outperforms in 1 benchmarks (IFEval), while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, MMLU-Pro).
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Gemma 3 4B ($0.02/1M tokens) is 7.5x cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($0.15/1M tokens).
For output processing, Gemma 3 4B ($0.04/1M tokens) is 37.5x cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct ($1.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is more expensive than Gemma 3 4B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct has 76.0B more parameters than Gemma 3 4B, making it 1900.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Gemma 3 4B accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct's 65,536 tokens. Gemma 3 4B can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is limited to 65,536 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Gemma 3 4B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct does not.
Gemma 3 4B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Gemma 3 4B
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
Gemma 3 4B is licensed under Gemma, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct 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 4B was released on 2025-03-12, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct was released on 2025-09-10.
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is 6 months newer than Gemma 3 4B.
Mar 12, 2025
1.5 years ago
Sep 10, 2025
11 months ago
6mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Gemma 3 4B has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-08-01, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Gemma 3 4B's training data extends to 2024-08-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct's cutoff date.
Aug 2024
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Provider Availability
Gemma 3 4B is available from DeepInfra. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is available from Novita.
Gemma 3 4B
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Gemma 3 4B and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Gemma 3 4B vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct.