# Gemma 2 2b IT vs Qwen3.8 Max

> Qwen3.8 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 56.0 to 32.5 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-2-2b-it-vs-qwen3-8-max
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 17

## Summary

- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 2 2b IT scores higher in 0 categories and Qwen3.8 Max in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Qwen3.8 Max leads 73.1 to 30.1.
- Gemma 2 2b IT has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 32.5 | 56.0 |
| Rank | 244 | 21 |
| Context | — | 1M |
| Input $/M | — | $2 |
| Output $/M | — | $6 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 31.8 (#268)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 52.3 (#30)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1112 | 1499 |
| DeepSWE | — | 57.5% |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1671 |
| FrontierSWE | — | 15.8% |
| SciCode | — | 52.9% |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Gemma 2 2b IT: —
- Qwen3.8 Max: 42.6 (#17)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| τ²-bench Banking | — | 55.1% |
| GDP.pdf | — | 23.2% |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 20.5 (#219)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 53.4 (#26)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1113 | 1493 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | — | 88.3% |
| CritPt | — | 20% |
| Chess Puzzles | — | 40% |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | — | 38% |
| DTBench | — | 92% |
| LMCA | — | 46.2% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | — | 156.69 |

## Math

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 30.1 (#212)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 73.1 (#15)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1135 | 1498 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | — | 74.7% |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | — | 46.3% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | — | 100% |
| ProofBench | — | 58% |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 29.3 (#229)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 61.7 (#25)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1096 | 1504 |
| GPQA Diamond | — | 92.7% |
| SimpleQA Verified | — | 47.3% |

## Multimodal

- Gemma 2 2b IT: —
- Qwen3.8 Max: 36.9 (#70)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1314 |
| Furniture Assembly | — | 20% |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 32.5 (#252)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 56.6 (#18)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1121 | 1468 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1132 | 1537 |
| LMArena French | 1156 | 1502 |
| LMArena German | 1114 | 1489 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1083 | 1466 |
| LMArena Korean | 1055 | 1467 |
| LMArena Russian | 1118 | 1478 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1140 | 1495 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 58.1 (#258)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 77.7 (#19)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1118 | 1478 |

## Long Context

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 34.2 (#245)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 45.5 (#30)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1130 | 1486 |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 2 2b IT: 36.6 (#258)
- Qwen3.8 Max: 67.0 (#31)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 2b IT | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1156 | 1480 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1147 | 1478 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1118 | 1487 |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 2 2b IT better than Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 56.0 to 32.5 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Gemma 2 2b IT or Qwen3.8 Max better for coding?

Qwen3.8 Max scores higher on coding benchmarks: 52.3 versus 31.8 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 2 2b IT and Qwen3.8 Max share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 2 2b IT has 17 scored results on Noometry and Qwen3.8 Max has 38.