Model family

GoogleUpdated 2026ChatLocalEfficientMultimodal

Gemma Models

Gemma models are useful for efficient local, app, and multimodal workflows, with small-to-mid-size variants that are practical for developers.

Best for

Chat

Use this family hub to compare Gemma variants for chat workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Local

Use this family hub to compare Gemma variants for local workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Efficient

Use this family hub to compare Gemma variants for efficient workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Multimodal

Use this family hub to compare Gemma variants for multimodal workflows, then open the detail page for deeper deployment notes.

Source box

Gemma family pages should separate Gemma 4 Apache-licensed checkpoints from earlier Gemma releases that used Gemma-specific terms.

Verified through: June 2026

Model licenses, context windows, release names, and provider terms can vary by checkpoint. Verify the exact model card before production or commercial use.

Variants

Gemma models grouped by workflow

Latest / flagship

ChatFrontier 2026chatmultimodal

Gemma 4

Google · Gemma

Best for: Developers evaluating Google-backed open-weight models for efficient local apps, hosted prototypes, and multimodal workflows where supported.

Local: Smaller Gemma variants are practical for local testing; larger variants need more VRAM or unified memory.

Details →
EdgeOpen weights where releasedlocalefficient

Gemma 3 4B IT

Google · Gemma

Best for: Efficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
ChatOpen weights

Gemma 4 26B (A4B)

Google · Gemma

Best for: High-quality local chat and reasoning on 24 GB cards, and usable split-mode performance below that thanks to sparse activation.

Details →
ChatOpen weights

Gemma 4 31B

Google · Gemma

Best for: Maximum Gemma quality for local chat, reasoning, and long-context work on 24 GB cards.

Details →
ChatOpen weightschatsummarisation

Gemma 3 4B

Google · Gemma 3

Best for: Gemma 3 4B is Google's compact open-weight model, notable for pairing a small 4B parameter count with an unusually large 128K token context window.

Local: 128K context at 4B scale is a standout feature. Q4 fits in 4 GB VRAM. Useful for RAG and summarisation on constrained hardware.

Details →
ChatOpen weightschatreasoning

Gemma 4 12B

Google · Gemma 4

Best for: Gemma 4 12B is Google's current flagship open-weight model at the 12B size, pairing a 256K context window with the permissive Apache 2.0 license (a step up from the Gemma Terms of Use that covered the Gemma 3 line).

Local: Google's flagship 12B open-weight model with 256K context. Q4 fits in 8–10 GB VRAM; strong default for MacBooks with 16 GB unified memory where KV-cache growth at long context is manageable. Benchmark against Qwen3 14B on your prompts — Gemma 4 leads on certain reasoning tasks.

Details →
ChatOpen weightschatcoding

Gemma 4 12B (QAT)

Google · Gemma 4

Best for: Gemma 4 12B (QAT) is a quantization-aware trained release of the base Gemma 4 12B model, meaning the model was trained with Q4 quantization already factored in rather than quantized after the fact.

Local: Quantization-aware trained variant of Gemma 4 12B. QAT recovers most of the quality lost to Q4 quantization versus post-training quantization of the base checkpoint, at the cost of a slightly larger Q4_K_M footprint (9.5 GB vs 7.6 GB). QAT is published as a Q4-class artifact only — for Q8 or BF16 inference use the base Gemma 4 12B entry instead.

Details →

Coding

Vision / multimodal

Local-friendly

ChatPractical localchatlocal

Gemma 3 27B

Google · Gemma

Best for: Developers testing capable medium-sized chat models with broad tooling support.

Local: Can be tested locally with quantized builds on higher-end consumer GPUs or unified-memory systems.

Details →
EdgeOpen weights where releasedlocalefficient

Gemma 3 12B IT

Google · Gemma

Best for: Efficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
EdgeOpen weights where releasedlocalefficient

Gemma 3 1B IT

Google · Gemma

Best for: Efficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
ChatOpen weights where releasedlocalefficient

Gemma 2 27B Instruct

Google · Gemma

Best for: Efficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
ChatOpen weights where releasedlocalefficient

Gemma 2 9B Instruct

Google · Gemma

Best for: Efficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →
EdgeOpen weights where releasedlocalefficient

Gemma 2 2B Instruct

Google · Gemma

Best for: Efficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.

Local: Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.

Details →

Compare

All Gemma models in the directory

ModelTypeBest forLocal runner notesLicenseDetail
Gemma 4ChatDevelopers evaluating Google-backed open-weight models for efficient local apps, hosted prototypes, and multimodal workflows where supported.Smaller Gemma variants are practical for local testing; larger variants need more VRAM or unified memory.Apache 2.0 / check exact model cardOpen
Gemma 3 27BChatDevelopers testing capable medium-sized chat models with broad tooling support.Can be tested locally with quantized builds on higher-end consumer GPUs or unified-memory systems.Gemma Terms of UseOpen
Gemma 3 12B ITEdgeEfficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Gemma 3 4B ITEdgeEfficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Gemma 3 1B ITEdgeEfficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Gemma 2 27B InstructChatEfficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Gemma 2 9B InstructChatEfficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Gemma 2 2B InstructEdgeEfficient local prototypes, app workflows, and Gemma-family comparisons.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
CodeGemma 7BCodeCoding assistant experiments and developer workflow prototypes.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
PaliGemma 2VisionVision-language app prototypes and multimodal evaluation.Use the exact checkpoint and quantization that matches your hardware and latency target.Check exact model cardOpen
Gemma 4 26B (A4B)ChatHigh-quality local chat and reasoning on 24 GB cards, and usable split-mode performance below that thanks to sparse activation.Ollama Q4_K_M is ~18 GB (26B A4B) / ~20 GB (31B): full-GPU on 24 GB cards, split placement with reduced throughput on smaller GPUs.Apache 2.0Open
Gemma 4 31BChatMaximum Gemma quality for local chat, reasoning, and long-context work on 24 GB cards.Ollama Q4_K_M is ~18 GB (26B A4B) / ~20 GB (31B): full-GPU on 24 GB cards, split placement with reduced throughput on smaller GPUs.Apache 2.0Open
Gemma 3 4BChatGemma 3 4B is Google's compact open-weight model, notable for pairing a small 4B parameter count with an unusually large 128K token context window.128K context at 4B scale is a standout feature. Q4 fits in 4 GB VRAM. Useful for RAG and summarisation on constrained hardware.Gemma Terms of UseOpen
Gemma 3 12BChatGemma 3 12B is Google's mid-size Gemma 3 checkpoint, built for chat, RAG, and summarization tasks that benefit from its 128K context window without needing a 30B+ model.128K context at 12B. Q4 fits in 8–10 GB VRAM with short context; KV cache grows quickly at 128K. Benchmark against Qwen3 14B on your tasks.Gemma Terms of UseOpen
Gemma 4 12BChatGemma 4 12B is Google's current flagship open-weight model at the 12B size, pairing a 256K context window with the permissive Apache 2.0 license (a step up from the Gemma Terms of Use that covered the Gemma 3 line).Google's flagship 12B open-weight model with 256K context. Q4 fits in 8–10 GB VRAM; strong default for MacBooks with 16 GB unified memory where KV-cache growth at long context is manageable. Benchmark against Qwen3 14B on your prompts — Gemma 4 leads on certain reasoning tasks.Apache 2.0Open
Gemma 4 12B (QAT)ChatGemma 4 12B (QAT) is a quantization-aware trained release of the base Gemma 4 12B model, meaning the model was trained with Q4 quantization already factored in rather than quantized after the fact.Quantization-aware trained variant of Gemma 4 12B. QAT recovers most of the quality lost to Q4 quantization versus post-training quantization of the base checkpoint, at the cost of a slightly larger Q4_K_M footprint (9.5 GB vs 7.6 GB). QAT is published as a Q4-class artifact only — for Q8 or BF16 inference use the base Gemma 4 12B entry instead.Apache 2.0Open

Source box

Gemma family pages should separate Gemma 4 Apache-licensed checkpoints from earlier Gemma releases that used Gemma-specific terms.

Verified through: June 2026

Model licenses, context windows, release names, and provider terms can vary by checkpoint. Verify the exact model card before production or commercial use.