GPT-4.1 nano vs MiniMax-M2.7 vs Gemma 3 27B IT

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-4.1 nano 63/100, MiniMax-M2.7 61/100, Gemma 3 27B IT 60/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M2.7 for raw capability, Gemma 3 27B IT on price and GPT-4.1 nano for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

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); MiniMax-M2.7 costs $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). 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 $0.525 for MiniMax-M2.7 (4.8× as much).

MiniMax-M2.7 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M2.7 145.9 (#73 of 148), Gemma 3 27B IT 130.0 (#125 of 148) and GPT-4.1 nano 129.6 (#127 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (138.2–148.0 vs 124.1–132.2), so the gap is a real one.

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-4.1 nano, MiniMax-M2.7 and Gemma 3 27B IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, MiniMax-M2.7 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

GPT-4.1 nano has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 204,800 for MiniMax-M2.7 and 131,072 for Gemma 3 27B IT. Maximum output per response: GPT-4.1 nano up to 32,768, MiniMax-M2.7 up to 131,072, Gemma 3 27B IT up to 131,072 tokens.

GPT-4.1 nano accepts text and images; MiniMax-M2.7 accepts text; Gemma 3 27B IT accepts text and images. GPT-4.1 nano handles the widest range of inputs.

MiniMax-M2.7 and Gemma 3 27B IT publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 nano is proprietary.

MiniMax-M2.7 is the newest, released Mar 18, 2026. GPT-4.1 nano came out Apr 14, 2025; Gemma 3 27B IT came out Mar 12, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 nano Apr 2024, Gemma 3 27B IT Aug 2024.

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.