Model comparison

Gemma 3 27B vs Step 2 16k Exp 202412

Step 2 16k Exp 202412 is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.2 to 30.8 on the Noometry Index.

Last verified . 12 shared benchmarks.

Gemma 3 27B Google

30.8

Rank #284 Confirmed

Step 2 16k Exp 202412 StepFun

39.2

Rank #171 Confirmed

Summary

  • They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 3 27B scores higher in 3 categories and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 in 5 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
  • The widest gap is in coding, where Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads 38.5 to 22.5.
  • Gemma 3 27B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

Side by side

Gemma 3 27B and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 specifications
Gemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
ProviderGoogleStepFun
Noometry Index30.839.2
Released2025-03-11—
WeightsOpenProprietary
Context window131K—
Max output8K—
Input $ / M tokens$0.08—
Output $ / M tokens$0.16—
Results tracked4312

Sponsored placements are available on pages like this one. Advertise on Noometry

Category by category

Coding Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads

Gemma 3 27B: 22.5 (#334), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 38.5 (#174)

Coding benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Coding13221316
Aider Polyglot4.9%—
SciCode21.2%—
LiveBench Coding39.9%—

Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable

Gemma 3 27B: 25.1 (#110), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: —

Agentic & Tool Use benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard29.5%—

Reasoning Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads

Gemma 3 27B: 16.7 (#301), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 25.9 (#142)

Reasoning benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Hard Prompts13401299
Kagi LLM Benchmark40.4%—
CritPt0%—
Chess Puzzles0%—
LiveBench Reasoning43.8%—
DTBench52.5%—
LiveBench Data Analysis51.5%—
LMCA12.3%—
Epoch Capabilities Index130.04—
LiveBench50%—

Math Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads

Gemma 3 27B: 25.9 (#265), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 36.3 (#169)

Math benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Math13121304
OTIS Mock AIME 2024-202522.5%—
LiveBench Math55.4%—
MATH Level 574%—

Knowledge Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads

Gemma 3 27B: 25.5 (#261), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 35.2 (#187)

Knowledge benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Expert13041279
GPQA Diamond47.7%—
Confabulations40.3%—
Vectara Hallucination Rate7.4%—

Multimodal Not comparable

Gemma 3 27B: 32.6 (#100), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: —

Multimodal benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Vision1164—
GeoBench52%—

Multilingual Gemma 3 27B leads

Gemma 3 27B: 46.9 (#155), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 43.7 (#181)

Multilingual benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Non-English13341290
LMArena Chinese13461331
LMArena Russian13491324
LMArena French1368—
LMArena German1362—
LMArena Japanese1287—
LMArena Korean1308—
LMArena Spanish1349—

Instruction Following Gemma 3 27B leads

Gemma 3 27B: 70.6 (#160), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 67.9 (#192)

Instruction Following benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Instruction Following13211287
LiveBench Instruction Following74.9%—

Long Context Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads

Gemma 3 27B: 27.6 (#293), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 39.7 (#170)

Long Context benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Longer Query13331307
Fiction.LiveBench33.3%—

Writing & Preference Too close to call

Gemma 3 27B: 52.5 (#168), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 52.3 (#173)

Writing & Preference benchmarks
BenchmarkGemma 3 27BStep 2 16k Exp 202412
LMArena Text13581321
LMArena Creative Writing13461328
LMArena Multi-Turn13451292
Short-Story Creative Writing79.9%—
EQ-Bench Creative Writing1266—
LiveBench Language34.6%—

Frequently asked questions

Is Gemma 3 27B better than Step 2 16k Exp 202412?

Step 2 16k Exp 202412 is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.2 to 30.8 on the Noometry Index.

Is Gemma 3 27B or Step 2 16k Exp 202412 better for coding?

Step 2 16k Exp 202412 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 38.5 versus 22.5 in the Noometry coding category.

How many benchmarks do Gemma 3 27B and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 share?

12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 3 27B has 43 scored results on Noometry and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 has 12.

Related comparisons

Go deeper