ModelRefs / Phi-4 vs Gemma 3 27B
Phi-4 vs Gemma 3 27B
Phi-4 vs Gemma 3 27B: side-by-side benchmarks, pricing, context windows, coding ability and deployment. Pick the right model for your stack.
Overview
Gemma 3 27B: Gemma 3 27B is the largest model in Google's third-generation open Gemma family, accepting text and images across a 128,000-token input context, with output drawn from the same budget. Images are normalised to 896x896 and encoded as 256 tokens each. Google cites support for more than 140 languages and an August 2024 knowledge cutoff. The weights are published under Google's Gemma Terms of Use rather than a standard open-source licence.
Phi-4: Microsoft's 14B dense decoder-only open-weight text model, trained on 9.8T tokens with a synthetic-data-centered curriculum and available through the microsoft/phi-4 artifact and Microsoft Foundry.
Context window: Gemma 3 27B accepts up to 128,000 tokens, Phi-4 up to 16,384. Confirm the limit for your specific deployment channel before relying on it.
Gemma 3 27B vs Phi-4 at a glance
| Attribute | Gemma 3 27B | Phi-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Microsoft | |
| Released | 2025-02-01 | 2024-12-12 |
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Input price | $0.1/M tokens | Free / self-hosted |
| Output price | $0.3/M tokens | Free / self-hosted |
| Licence | Gemma-Terms | MIT |
| Self-hostable | Yes, open weights | Yes, open weights |
| Modalities | text, vision | text |
Where they differ most
- Reasoning: Gemma 3 27B 68%, Phi-4 61%. Gemma 3 27B leads on this dimension.
- Cost Efficiency: Gemma 3 27B 95%, Phi-4 100%. Phi-4 leads on this dimension.
Capability scores are ModelRefs' own derived signals, not vendor claims or benchmark results. Validate against your own workload before relying on them.
Continue your research
Use these connected ModelRefs sections to compare alternatives, inspect implementation paths, and review the evidence and governance boundaries relevant to Phi-4 vs Gemma 3 27B.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, Phi-4 or Gemma 3 27B?
Phi-4 and Gemma 3 27B target different workloads — see the benchmark and pricing tables for a side-by-side answer.
Is Phi-4 cheaper than Gemma 3 27B?
Compare $0.00000 vs $0.00010 on this page.