Gemma 4 26B A4B vs GPT-4.1

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across agentic, coding, multimodal, knowledge, reasoning, and math workflows.

Agentic
Coding
Multimodal & Grounded
Reasoning
Knowledge
Instruction Following
Multilingual
Mathematics

Gemma 4 26B A4B· GPT-4.1

Quick Verdict

Treat this as a split decision. Gemma 4 26B A4B makes more sense if coding is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill; GPT-4.1 is the better fit if reasoning is the priority or you need the larger 1M context window.

Gemma 4 26B A4B and GPT-4.1 finish on the same overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.

GPT-4.1 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.00 input / $8.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.00 input / $0.00 output per 1M tokens for Gemma 4 26B A4B. That is roughly Infinityx on output cost alone. Gemma 4 26B A4B is the reasoning model in the pair, while GPT-4.1 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. GPT-4.1 gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Gemma 4 26B A4B.

Operational tradeoffs

ProviderGoogleOpenAI
PriceFree*$2.00 / $8.00
SpeedN/A108 t/s
TTFTN/A1.02s
Context256K1M

Decision framing

BenchLM keeps the benchmark table and the operator tradeoffs on the same page so a better score does not hide a materially slower, pricier, or smaller-context model.

Runtime metrics show N/A when BenchLM does not have a sourced snapshot for that exact model. The scoring rules and freshness policy are documented on the methodology page.

BenchmarkGemma 4 26B A4BGPT-4.1
Agentic
Terminal-Bench 2.061%
BrowseComp73%
OSWorld-Verified63%
CodingGemma 4 26B A4B wins
LiveCodeBench77.1%
SWE-bench Verified54.6%
SWE-bench Pro51%
Multimodal & GroundedGemma 4 26B A4B wins
MMMU-Pro73.8%70%
OfficeQA Pro78%
ReasoningGPT-4.1 wins
BBH64.8%
MRCRv244.1%82%
LongBench v280%
KnowledgeGPT-4.1 wins
GPQA82.3%66.3%
MMLU-Pro82.6%
HLE17.2%
HLE w/o tools8.7%
MMLU90.2%
FrontierScience61%
Instruction Following
IFEval87.4%
Multilingual
MMLU-ProX69%
Mathematics
AIME 202426.4%
Frequently Asked Questions (5)

Which is better, Gemma 4 26B A4B or GPT-4.1?

Gemma 4 26B A4B and GPT-4.1 are tied on overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, Gemma 4 26B A4B or GPT-4.1?

GPT-4.1 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 63.1 versus 56.1. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, Gemma 4 26B A4B or GPT-4.1?

Gemma 4 26B A4B has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 77.1 versus 52.4. GPT-4.1 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.

Which is better for reasoning, Gemma 4 26B A4B or GPT-4.1?

GPT-4.1 has the edge for reasoning in this comparison, averaging 80.9 versus 44.1. Inside this category, MRCRv2 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Gemma 4 26B A4B or GPT-4.1?

Gemma 4 26B A4B has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 73.8 versus 73.6. Inside this category, MMMU-Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Last updated: April 2, 2026

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