# Gemma 2 9B vs Qwen Max

> Qwen Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 34.7 to 25.9 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/gemma-2-9b-vs-qwen-max
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 20

## Summary

- They share 20 benchmarks with published results for both. Gemma 2 9B scores higher in 0 categories and Qwen Max in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Qwen Max leads 30.3 to 9.7.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is MATH Level 5: 21% for Gemma 2 9B and 67.2% for Qwen Max.
- Gemma 2 9B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 25.9 | 34.7 |
| Rank | 341 | 230 |
| Context | — | 33K |
| Input $/M | — | $1.60 |
| Output $/M | — | $6.40 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Gemma 2 9B: 29.4 (#304)
- Qwen Max: 30.7 (#292)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1173 | 1288 |
| Aider Polyglot | — | 21.8% |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 34.7% | — |
| LiveBench Coding | 22.5% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 40.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- Gemma 2 9B: 15.9 (#309)
- Qwen Max: 25.1 (#151)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1171 | 1269 |
| LiveBench Reasoning | 15.2% | — |
| LiveBench Data Analysis | 36.4% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 119.83 | — |
| LiveBench | 28.7% | — |
| PIQA | 83.7% | — |

## Math

- Gemma 2 9B: 9.9 (#318)
- Qwen Max: 22.3 (#276)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 0.6% | 16.1% |
| LMArena Math | 1183 | 1275 |
| MATH Level 5 | 21% | 67.2% |
| LiveBench Math | 19.8% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | — | 1% |
| GSM8K | 84.9% | — |

## Knowledge

- Gemma 2 9B: 9.7 (#305)
- Qwen Max: 30.3 (#228)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 27.5% | 56.1% |
| LMArena Expert | 1147 | 1248 |
| BoolQ | 85.7% | — |
| MMLU | 72.1% | — |

## Multilingual

- Gemma 2 9B: 36.6 (#238)
- Qwen Max: 41.8 (#202)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1188 | 1263 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1185 | 1254 |
| LMArena French | 1190 | 1330 |
| LMArena German | 1186 | 1254 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1144 | 1205 |
| LMArena Korean | 1137 | 1142 |
| LMArena Russian | 1200 | 1274 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1200 | 1290 |

## Instruction Following

- Gemma 2 9B: 57.6 (#269)
- Qwen Max: 66.5 (#208)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1178 | 1262 |
| LiveBench Instruction Following | 52.6% | — |

## Long Context

- Gemma 2 9B: 36.3 (#233)
- Qwen Max: 39.4 (#180)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1197 | 1288 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | — | 66.7% |

## Writing & Preference

- Gemma 2 9B: 32.1 (#281)
- Qwen Max: 47.8 (#205)

| Benchmark | Gemma 2 9B | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1207 | 1282 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1206 | 1248 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1193 | 1277 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 841 | — |
| LiveBench Language | 25.5% | — |

## FAQ

### Is Gemma 2 9B better than Qwen Max?

Qwen Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 34.7 to 25.9 on the Noometry Index.

### Is Gemma 2 9B or Qwen Max better for coding?

Qwen Max scores higher on coding benchmarks: 30.7 versus 29.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### How many benchmarks do Gemma 2 9B and Qwen Max share?

20 benchmarks have published results for both models. Gemma 2 9B has 35 scored results on Noometry and Qwen Max has 23.