Apertus 8B Instruct vs Gemma 3 270M
Wins 3 of 5 areas
Coding · Reasoning · Following instructions
Wins 1 of 5 areas
Facts
Apertus 8B Instruct is the stronger all-rounder.Gemma 3 270M is better at facts.
Scores updated · 12 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the five areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking20Apertus 8B Instruct2 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- CodingWriting and fixing software10Apertus 8B Instruct1 of 2 tests · 1 tie
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Apertus 8B Instruct1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up01Gemma 3 270M1 of 1 test
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts00Even0 each · 1 tie
Facts, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Apertus 8B Instruct pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+10.3points ahead
- Graduate-level biology, physics and chemistry questionsGPQA Diamond+3.2points ahead
- Very hard expert questions across many subjectsHumanity's Last Exam+1.4points ahead
Where Gemma 3 270M pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+65.7points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 12 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingApertus 8B Instruct
- SciCodeApertus 8B Instruct by 4.14.10+4.1
- Terminal-Bench Hardtie00tie
ReasoningApertus 8B Instruct
- GPQA DiamondApertus 8B Instruct by 3.225.622.4+3.2
- Humanity's Last ExamApertus 8B Instruct by 1.453.6+1.4
- CritPttie00tie
FactsGemma 3 270M
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGemma 3 270M by 65.73.969.6+65.7
Following instructionsApertus 8B Instruct
- IFBenchApertus 8B Instruct by 10.322.412.1+10.3
Other results4 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceGemma 3 270M by 47.9-77.2-29.3+47.9
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)Apertus 8B Instruct by 2.311.49.1+2.3
- AA Agentic Indextie3.83tie
- AA Intelligencetie4.85.1tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Apertus 8B Instruct or Gemma 3 270M?
Apertus 8B Instruct wins three of the five areas where both have results: coding, reasoning and following instructions. Gemma 3 270M wins facts. They are level on long documents.
Which is better for coding?
Apertus 8B Instruct. It wins 1 of the 2 coding tests both models report; Gemma 3 270M wins none, and 1 is a tie.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 12 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 8 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 4 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.