Gemma 2 9B vs Jamba 1.5 Large
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 · Jamba 1.5 Large specs- PriceJamba 1.5 Large
Jamba 1.5 Large publishes pricing ($8.00 / 1M output tokens) while Gemma 2 9B does not.
- Context windowJamba 1.5 Large
Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 8.2K, 31.3× 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.
- ModalitiesTie
Both handle text.
- OpennessTie
Both ship open weights, self-host either one.
On balance Jamba 1.5 Large edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against Gemma 2 9B's 0. Jamba 1.5 Large publishes pricing ($8.00 / 1M output tokens) while Gemma 2 9B does not. Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 8.2K, 31.3× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. Both target the same set of modalities (text), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Both ship open weights, self-host either one.
Jamba 1.5 Large is the newer of the two, released 2 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 Jamba 1.5 Large sees more deployments in long context and rag. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Gemma 2 9B | Jamba 1.5 Large |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | AI21 | |
| Released | Jun 2024 | Aug 2024 |
| Modalities | text | text |
| Context window | 8.2K tokens | 256K tokens |
| Max output | , | , |
| Input · 1M | Pricing not published | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | Pricing not published | $8.00 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | , | , |
| Open weights | Yes (Gemma License) | Yes (Jamba Open Model License) |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
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 $18.00
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs $180
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs $348
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).
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
- Jamba 1.5 Large$0.600
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- MMLU71.3
Gemma 2 9B fits when…
- Strong 9B-class quality
- Wide tooling
Jamba 1.5 Large fits when…
- 256k context
- Efficient long-context inference
- Open weights
- Long-context tasks, handles 256K tokens vs 8.2K for Gemma 2 9B.
Consider Gemini 3 Pro
Google's late-2025 flagship, set new benchmarks on long-context, vision, and reasoning at competitive pricing.
Frequently asked
Is Gemma 2 9B or Jamba 1.5 Large 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?
Jamba 1.5 Large accepts 256K tokens vs 8.2K for Gemma 2 9B.Is Gemma 2 9B or Jamba 1.5 Large better for coding?
Both Gemma 2 9B and Jamba 1.5 Large 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?
Both ship with open weights. Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma License; Jamba 1.5 Large under Jamba Open Model License.When were Gemma 2 9B and Jamba 1.5 Large released?
Gemma 2 9B was released by Google on 2024-06-27. Jamba 1.5 Large was released by AI21 on 2024-08-22.
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