# Gemma 2 27B vs Qwen Max

> Qwen Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 34.4 to 29.2 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 2 27B costs 4.3× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen Max's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-2-27b-vs-qwen-max
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 20

## Summary

- They share 20 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 2 27B scores higher in 1 category and Qwen Max in 7 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Qwen Max leads 30.3 to 18.9.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is MATH Level 5: 27.9% for Gemma 2 27B and 67.2% for Qwen Max.
- Gemma 2 27B is cheaper at $0.65 / $0.65 per million input/output tokens, against $1.60 / $6.40 for Qwen Max.
- Qwen Max accepts more context: 33K tokens versus 8K.
- Gemma 2 27B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 29.2 | 34.4 |
| Rank | 302 | 226 |
| Context | 8K | 33K |
| Input $/M | $0.65 | $1.60 |
| Output $/M | $0.65 | $6.40 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Gemma 2 27B: 33.5 (#243)
- Qwen Max: 30.3 (#288)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1211 | 1288 |
| Aider Polyglot | — | 21.8% |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 42.8% | — |
| LiveBench Coding | 36% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 52.5% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 2 27B: 14.8 (#313)
- Qwen Max: 24.1 (#154)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1199 | 1270 |
| LiveBench Reasoning | 28.1% | — |
| DTBench | 48% | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | 47.9% | — |
| LMCA | 7.1% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 122.06 | — |
| LiveBench | 38.2% | — |

## Math

- Gemma 2 27B: 10.0 (#306)
- Qwen Max: 21.0 (#272)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 1.4% | 16.1% |
| LMArena Math | 1212 | 1275 |
| MATH Level 5 | 27.9% | 67.2% |
| LiveBench Math | 26.5% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | — | 1% |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 2 27B: 18.9 (#275)
- Qwen Max: 30.3 (#222)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 36.5% | 56.1% |
| LMArena Expert | 1172 | 1248 |
| Confabulations | 27.1% | — |
| MMLU | 75.7% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 2 27B: 38.8 (#221)
- Qwen Max: 42.0 (#197)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1217 | 1263 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1221 | 1254 |
| LMArena French | 1246 | 1329 |
| LMArena German | 1209 | 1254 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1175 | 1205 |
| LMArena Korean | 1174 | 1141 |
| LMArena Russian | 1234 | 1274 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1228 | 1290 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 2 27B: 60.7 (#244)
- Qwen Max: 66.7 (#203)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1206 | 1262 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | 58.1% | — |

## Long Context

- Gemma 2 27B: 37.3 (#213)
- Qwen Max: 39.4 (#175)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1231 | 1289 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | — | 66.7% |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 2 27B: 44.4 (#220)
- Qwen Max: 48.0 (#200)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 27B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1231 | 1282 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1241 | 1248 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1224 | 1277 |
| LiveBench Language | 32.6% | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 2 27B better than Qwen Max?

Qwen Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 34.4 to 29.2 on the Noometry Index. Gemma 2 27B costs 4.3× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen Max's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Gemma 2 27B or Qwen Max?

Gemma 2 27B is cheaper. It lists at $0.65 per million input tokens and $0.65 per million output tokens; Qwen Max lists at $1.60 and $6.40.

### Is Gemma 2 27B or Qwen Max better for coding?

Gemma 2 27B scores higher on coding benchmarks: 33.5 versus 30.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen Max does, with 33K tokens against 8K.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 2 27B and Qwen Max share?

20 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 2 27B has 34 scored results on Noometry and Qwen Max has 23.