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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemma 3 4B IT vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

Gemma 3 4B IT comes out ahead, 53 to 44 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemma 3 4B IT

    Released Mar 12, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI116.1
    • Price$0.05 / $0.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 3 4B IT

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

    Released Sep 19, 2024

    44/100
    • ECI118.5
    • Price$0.175 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen2.5 7B Instruct

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma 3 4B IT is our pick

Gemma 3 4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (44). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen2.5 7B InstructCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 118.5 · Gemma 3 4B IT 116.1
  • Lowest priceGemma 3 4B ITGemma 3 4B IT $0.063 · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct $0.306 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameGemma 3 4B IT 131,072 · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma 3 4B ITGemma 3 4B IT: Text, Images · Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemma 3 4B ITQwen2.5 7B Instruct
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%3538
Price25%10074
Inputs & features15%5025
Context window10%2424
Overall100%53/10044/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemma 3 4B IT vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct specifications side by side
SpecificationGemma 3 4B ITGoogleQwen2.5 7B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)116.1118.5 (best)
ECI rank#146 of 148#141 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions23.2%35.5% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics7.5% (best)2.5%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.175
Output$0.10 (best)$0.70
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.063 (best)$0.306
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 7 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID—qwen2-5-7b-instruct
API providers7 (best)1
ReleasedMar 12, 2025Sep 19, 2024
Knowledge cutoffAug 2024Apr 2024
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Gemma 3 4B IT$0.70
  • Qwen2.5 7B Instruct$3.15
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemma 3 4B IT or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?

Gemma 3 4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (44). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemma 3 4B IT or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?

Gemma 3 4B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Qwen2.5 7B Instruct costs $0.175 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.063 per million tokens for Gemma 3 4B IT versus $0.306 for Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (4.9× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 118.5 (#141 of 148) and Gemma 3 4B IT 116.1 (#146 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (110.7–121.3 vs 97.7–124.3), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 35.5%, Gemma 3 4B IT 23.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemma 3 4B IT 7.5%, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 2.5%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemma 3 4B IT and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemma 3 4B IT and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct share the same 131,072-token context window. Maximum output per response: Gemma 3 4B IT up to 131,072, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemma 3 4B IT accepts text and images; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct accepts text. Gemma 3 4B IT handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Gemma 3 4B IT is the newest, released Mar 12, 2025. Qwen2.5 7B Instruct came out Sep 19, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemma 3 4B IT Aug 2024, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct Apr 2024.

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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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