# Gemma 2 2b IT vs Gemma 2 9B

> Gemma 2 2b IT is the stronger model overall, scoring 33.1 to 25.9 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-2-2b-it-vs-gemma-2-9b
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 2 2b IT scores higher in 6 categories and Gemma 2 9B in 2 categories; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Gemma 2 2b IT leads 32.6 to 9.9.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | Google |
| Noometry Index | 33.1 | 25.9 |
| Rank | 248 | 341 |
| Context | — | — |
| Input $/M | — | — |
| Output $/M | — | — |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 32.3 (#273)
- Gemma 2 9B: 29.4 (#304)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1112 | 1173 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | — | 34.7% |
| LiveBench Coding | — | 22.5% |
| BigCodeBench Complete | — | 40.6% |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 21.4 (#224)
- Gemma 2 9B: 15.9 (#309)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1113 | 1171 |
| LiveBench Reasoning | — | 15.2% |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | — | 36.4% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | — | 119.83 |
| LiveBench | — | 28.7% |
| PIQA | — | 83.7% |

## Math

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 32.6 (#212)
- Gemma 2 9B: 9.9 (#318)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1135 | 1183 |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | — | 0.6% |
| LiveBench Math | — | 19.8% |
| MATH Level 5 | — | 21% |
| GSM8K | — | 84.9% |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 29.9 (#231)
- Gemma 2 9B: 9.7 (#305)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1096 | 1147 |
| GPQA Diamond | — | 27.5% |
| BoolQ | — | 85.7% |
| MMLU | — | 72.1% |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 32.3 (#257)
- Gemma 2 9B: 36.6 (#238)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1121 | 1188 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1132 | 1185 |
| LMArena French | 1157 | 1190 |
| LMArena German | 1114 | 1186 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1083 | 1144 |
| LMArena Korean | 1055 | 1137 |
| LMArena Russian | 1118 | 1200 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1140 | 1200 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 57.8 (#263)
- Gemma 2 9B: 57.6 (#269)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1118 | 1178 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | — | 52.6% |

## Long Context

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 34.3 (#250)
- Gemma 2 9B: 36.3 (#233)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1130 | 1197 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 36.5 (#263)
- Gemma 2 9B: 32.1 (#281)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Gemma 2 9B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1156 | 1207 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1147 | 1206 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1118 | 1193 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | — | 841 |
| LiveBench Language | — | 25.5% |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 2 2b IT better than Gemma 2 9B?

Gemma 2 2b IT is the stronger model overall, scoring 33.1 to 25.9 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Gemma 2 2b IT or Gemma 2 9B better for coding?

Gemma 2 2b IT scores higher on coding benchmarks: 32.3 versus 29.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 2 2b IT and Gemma 2 9B share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 2 2b IT has 17 scored results on Noometry and Gemma 2 9B has 35.