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Gemma 2 9B vs Grok 3

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

Gemma 2 9B specs · Grok 3 specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceGrok 3

    Grok 3 publishes pricing ($15.00 / 1M output tokens) while Gemma 2 9B does not.

  • Context windowGrok 3

    Grok 3 accepts 128K tokens vs 8.2K, 15.6× the room for long documents and codebases.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesGrok 3

    Grok 3 supports 2 modalities (text, vision) vs 1 for Gemma 2 9B.

  • OpennessGemma 2 9B

    Gemma 2 9B ships open weights (Gemma License); Grok 3 is API-only.

On balance Grok 3 edges ahead, winning 3 of 5 categories against Gemma 2 9B's 1. Grok 3 publishes pricing ($15.00 / 1M output tokens) while Gemma 2 9B does not. Grok 3 accepts 128K tokens vs 8.2K, 15.6× the room for long documents and codebases.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, Gemma 2 9B handles text while Grok 3 handles text, vision, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Gemma 2 9B ships open weights (Gemma License); Grok 3 is API-only.

Grok 3 is the newer of the two, released 8 months after Gemma 2 9B, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Gemma 2 9B is usually picked for on device and edge deployment workloads, while Grok 3 sees more deployments in chatbots and research agent. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecGemma 2 9BGrok 3
ProviderGooglexAI
ReleasedJun 2024Feb 2025
Modalitiestexttext, vision
Context window8.2K tokens128K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1MPricing not published$3.00 / 1M tokens
Output · 1MPricing not published$15.00 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff,2024-08
Open weightsYes (Gemma License)No
API availableYesYes

Pricing at scale

What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day, vs $31.50
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs $315
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs $540

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Gemma 2 9BPricing unavailable
  • Grok 3$1.05

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

Gemma 2 9BGrok 3
  • MMLU71.3
Pick Gemma 2 9B if

Gemma 2 9B fits when…

  • Strong 9B-class quality
  • Wide tooling
  • Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Gemma License).
Pick Grok 3 if

Grok 3 fits when…

  • Real-time X access
  • Reasoning modes
  • Long-context tasks, handles 128K tokens vs 8.2K for Gemma 2 9B.
  • Multimodal needs covering vision.
Don't want either?

Consider Gemini 3 Pro

Google's late-2025 flagship, set new benchmarks on long-context, vision, and reasoning at competitive pricing.

See Gemini 3 Pro specsGemma 2 9B vs Gemini 3 ProGrok 3 vs Gemini 3 Pro

Frequently asked

  • Is Gemma 2 9B or Grok 3 cheaper?
    Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Grok 3 accepts 128K tokens vs 8.2K for Gemma 2 9B.
  • Is Gemma 2 9B or Grok 3 better for coding?
    Both Gemma 2 9B and Grok 3 are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.
  • Are either of these models open source?
    Gemma 2 9B ships open weights (Gemma License). Grok 3 is API-only.
  • When were Gemma 2 9B and Grok 3 released?
    Gemma 2 9B was released by Google on 2024-06-27. Grok 3 was released by xAI on 2025-02-17.
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