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Head-to-head comparison

Gemma 3 27B vs Mercury 2

Gemma 3 27B (Google) and Mercury 2 (Inception Labs) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, Mercury 2 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#80 vs #81); Gemma 3 27B is 1.7× cheaper per output token ($0.45/1M vs $0.75/1M); and Gemma 3 27B offers the longer context window (262K vs 128K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemma 3 27B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.45/1M output tokens against $0.75/1M, about 1.7× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.08/1M against $0.25/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 128K.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Mercury 2 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #80 against #81 (31.2 vs 29.9 points).
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1394 against 1358.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 21.9 against 7.4.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Mercury 2 was listed 4 March 2026, Gemma 3 27B 12 March 2025.

Gemma 3 27B vs Mercury 2: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Gemma 3 27B and Mercury 2
FieldGemma 3 27BGoogleMercury 2Inception Labs
ModelCap Index position#81#80
Index score29.931.2
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.08$0.25
Output price / 1M tokens$0.45$0.75
Context window262K tokens128K tokens
Max output tokens131K50K
API providers listed51
Weight accessGated accessAPI only
Input modalitiesText, ImageText
First listed12 March 20254 March 2026
PublisherGoogleInception Labs

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Gemma 3 27B vs Mercury 2

Public benchmark boards where Gemma 3 27B or Mercury 2 has a published result
BoardGemma 3 27BMercury 2Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13581351–136513941373–1415Mercury 2
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)29.5Prompt—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis7.4intelligence-index21.9intelligence-indexMercury 2

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Gemma 3 27B vs Mercury 2: common questions

Is Gemma 3 27B better than Mercury 2?

Mercury 2 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #80 against #81. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Gemma 3 27B cheaper than Mercury 2?

Gemma 3 27B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.45/1M against $0.75/1M. Input tokens are $0.08/1M for Gemma 3 27B and $0.25/1M for Mercury 2. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Gemma 3 27B or Mercury 2?

Gemma 3 27B has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 128K.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 3 27B or Mercury 2?

Arena coding: Gemma 3 27B 1358, Mercury 2 1394 — Mercury 2 leads.

Are Gemma 3 27B and Mercury 2 open-weight models?

Gemma 3 27B: Gated access. Mercury 2: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Gemma 3 27B and Mercury 2?

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for Gemma 3 27B and 1 for Mercury 2, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Gemma 3 27B vs Mercury 2 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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