Gemma 2 27B vs Gemma 2 2B IT vs Hermes 3 405B Instruct
Hermes 3 405B Instruct comes out ahead, 10 to 0 and 0 on our weighted score, though Gemma 2 27B is 35% cheaper per token.
GoogleGemma 2 27B
0/100- ECI122.1
- Price$0.65 / $0.65
- Context8K
- Google
Gemma 2 2B IT
0/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context8K
- Our pick
Nous ResearchHermes 3 405B Instruct
10/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $1.00
- Context131K
Hermes 3 405B Instruct is our pick
Hermes 3 405B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 10/100 against Gemma 2 27B (0) and Gemma 2 2B IT (0). It leads on context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGemma 2 27BGemma 2 27B $0.65 · Hermes 3 405B Instruct $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Gemma 2 2B IT unpriced
- Longest contextHermes 3 405B InstructHermes 3 405B Instruct 131,072 · Gemma 2 27B 8,192 · Gemma 2 2B IT 8,192 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGemma 2 27B: Text · Gemma 2 2B IT: Text · Hermes 3 405B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Gemma 2 27B | Gemma 2 2B IT | Hermes 3 405B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Context window | 40% | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 0/100 | 0/100 | 10/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemma 2 27BGoogle | Gemma 2 2B ITGoogle | Hermes 3 405B InstructNous Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 122.1 | — | — |
| ECI rank | #152 of 165 | — | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 36.5% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 1.4% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.65 (best) | — | $1.00 |
| Output | $0.65 (best) | — | $1.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.65 (best) | — | $1.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | — | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 8,192 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 2,048 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | No | No | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | OpenGemma Terms of Use | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 3 | — | 5 (best) |
| Released | Jul 13, 2024 | Jul 31, 2024 | Aug 16, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 30, 2024 | — | Dec 31, 2023 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemma 2 27B$7.80
- Gemma 2 2B IT—
- Hermes 3 405B Instruct$12.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemma 2 27B, Gemma 2 2B IT or Hermes 3 405B Instruct?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 10/100 against Gemma 2 27B (0) and Gemma 2 2B IT (0). It leads on context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Gemma 2 27B, Gemma 2 2B IT or Hermes 3 405B Instruct?
Gemma 2 27B is cheaper at $0.65 input / $0.65 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). Hermes 3 405B Instruct costs $1.00 input / $1.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.65 per million tokens for Gemma 2 27B versus $1.00 for Hermes 3 405B Instruct (1.5× as much). Gemma 2 2B IT has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemma 2 27B has an ECI of 122.1, Gemma 2 2B IT has not been scored yet and Hermes 3 405B Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 2 27B, Gemma 2 2B IT and Hermes 3 405B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Gemma 2 27B, Gemma 2 2B IT and Hermes 3 405B Instruct does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 8,192 for Gemma 2 27B and 8,192 for Gemma 2 2B IT. Maximum output per response: Gemma 2 27B up to 2,048, Gemma 2 2B IT up to 8,192, Hermes 3 405B Instruct up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemma 2 27B accepts text; Gemma 2 2B IT accepts text; Hermes 3 405B Instruct accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Gemma Terms of Use), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Hermes 3 405B Instruct is the newest, released Aug 16, 2024. Gemma 2 2B IT came out Jul 31, 2024; Gemma 2 27B came out Jul 13, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 2 27B Jun 30, 2024, Hermes 3 405B Instruct Dec 31, 2023.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
