GPT-4.1 nano vs Gemma 3 27B IT vs Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct
Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-4.1 nano 63, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 62, Gemma 3 27B IT 60). The right pick depends on what you value most.
OpenAIGPT-4.1 nano
63/100- ECI129.6
- Price$0.10 / $0.40
- Context1.05M
GoogleGemma 3 27B IT
60/100- ECI130.0
- Price$0.08 / $0.20
- Context131K
MetaLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct
62/100- ECI129.7
- Price$0.225 / $0.69
- Context10M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GPT-4.1 nano 63/100, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 62/100, Gemma 3 27B IT 60/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Gemma 3 27B IT for raw capability and Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGemma 3 27B ITCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 3 27B IT 130.0 · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 129.7 · GPT-4.1 nano 129.6
- Lowest priceGemma 3 27B ITGemma 3 27B IT $0.11 · GPT-4.1 nano $0.175 · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct $0.341 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLlama 4 Scout 17B InstructLlama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 10,000,000 · GPT-4.1 nano 1,047,576 · Gemma 3 27B IT 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGPT-4.1 nano: Text, Images · Gemma 3 27B IT: Text, Images · Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct: Text, Images
- Self-hostingGemma 3 27B IT and Llama 4 Scout 17B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-4.1 nano | Gemma 3 27B IT | Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 52 | 53 | 52 |
| Price | 25% | 86 | 95 | 72 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 60 | 50 | 50 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 24 | 100 |
| Overall | 100% | 63/100 | 60/100 | 62/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-4.1 nanoOpenAI | Gemma 3 27B ITGoogle | Llama 4 Scout 17B InstructMeta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 129.6 | 130.0 (best) | 129.7 |
| ECI rank | #127 of 148 | #125 of 148 (best) | #126 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 48.9% | 47.7% | 51.8% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 28.9% (best) | 22.5% | 7.8% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 6.0% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.10 | $0.08 (best) | $0.225 |
| Output | $0.40 | $0.20 (best) | $0.69 |
| Cached input | $0.025 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.175 | $0.11 (best) | $0.341 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 9 providers | Median of 4 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,047,576 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 10,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | gpt-4.1-nano | — | — |
| API providers | 20 (best) | 10 | 4 |
| Released | Apr 14, 2025 | Mar 12, 2025 | Apr 5, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Aug 2024 | Aug 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GPT-4.1 nano$1.80
- Gemma 3 27B IT$1.20
- Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct$3.63
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-4.1 nano, Gemma 3 27B IT or Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GPT-4.1 nano 63/100, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 62/100, Gemma 3 27B IT 60/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Gemma 3 27B IT for raw capability and Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 nano, Gemma 3 27B IT or Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct?
Gemma 3 27B IT is cheaper at $0.08 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). GPT-4.1 nano costs $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct costs $0.225 input / $0.69 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.11 per million tokens for Gemma 3 27B IT versus $0.175 for GPT-4.1 nano (1.6× as much) and $0.341 for Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct (3.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Gemma 3 27B IT scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 3 27B IT 130.0 (#125 of 148), Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 129.7 (#126 of 148) and GPT-4.1 nano 129.6 (#127 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (124.1–132.2 vs 124.8–131.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 51.8%, GPT-4.1 nano 48.9%, Gemma 3 27B IT 47.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-4.1 nano 28.9%, Gemma 3 27B IT 22.5%, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct 7.8%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 nano, Gemma 3 27B IT and Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemma 3 27B IT leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct has the largest context window at 10,000,000 tokens, against 1,047,576 for GPT-4.1 nano and 131,072 for Gemma 3 27B IT. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 nano up to 32,768, Gemma 3 27B IT up to 131,072, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-4.1 nano accepts text and images; Gemma 3 27B IT accepts text and images; Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct accepts text and images. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Gemma 3 27B IT and Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 nano is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-4.1 nano is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct came out Apr 5, 2025; Gemma 3 27B IT came out Mar 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 nano Apr 2024, Gemma 3 27B IT Aug 2024, Llama 4 Scout 17B Instruct Aug 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.
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