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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Gemma 2 27B

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct comes out ahead, 49 to 35 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Meta

    Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct

    Released Jul 23, 2024

    49/100
    • ECI116.4
    • Price$0.06 / $0.08
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct

  2. Google

    Gemma 2 27B

    Released Jul 13, 2024

    35/100
    • ECI122.1
    • Price$0.65 / $0.65
    • Context8K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 2 27B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is our pick

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Gemma 2 27B (35). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. Gemma 2 27B wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemma 2 27BCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 2 27B 122.1 · Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.4
  • Lowest priceLlama-3.1-8B-InstructLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct $0.065 · Gemma 2 27B $0.65 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextLlama-3.1-8B-InstructLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct 128,000 · Gemma 2 27B 8,192 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsLlama-3.1-8B-Instruct: Text · Gemma 2 27B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightLlama-3.1-8B-InstructGemma 2 27B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%3542
Price25%10056
Inputs & features15%250
Context window10%240
Overall100%49/10035/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct vs Gemma 2 27B specifications side by side
SpecificationLlama-3.1-8B-InstructMetaGemma 2 27BGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)116.4122.1 (best)
ECI rank#162 of 165#152 of 165 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions27.0%36.5% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics1.7% (best)1.4%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.06 (best)$0.65
Output$0.08 (best)$0.65
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.065 (best)$0.65
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 17 providersMedian of 3 providers
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Max output4,096 tokens (best)2,048 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model ID——
API providers18 (best)3
ReleasedJul 23, 2024Jul 13, 2024
Knowledge cutoffDec 2023Jun 30, 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.

  • Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct$0.76
  • Gemma 2 27B$7.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct or Gemma 2 27B?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Gemma 2 27B (35). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. Gemma 2 27B wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct or Gemma 2 27B?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.08 output per million tokens (median across 17 API providers). Gemma 2 27B costs $0.65 input / $0.65 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.065 per million tokens for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct versus $0.65 for Gemma 2 27B (10× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemma 2 27B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemma 2 27B 122.1 (#152 of 165) and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 116.4 (#162 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (115.8–124.1 vs 107.0–121.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemma 2 27B 36.5%, Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 27.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct 1.7%, Gemma 2 27B 1.4%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct and Gemma 2 27B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemma 2 27B leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Note that Gemma 2 27B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 8,192 for Gemma 2 27B. Maximum output per response: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct up to 4,096, Gemma 2 27B up to 2,048 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct accepts text; Gemma 2 27B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

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

Which is newer?

Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct is the newest, released Jul 23, 2024. Gemma 2 27B came out Jul 13, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct Dec 2023, Gemma 2 27B Jun 30, 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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