Gemma 4 26B A4B IT vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT and Qwen3.6 35B A3B match in llmrun Score, with values of 105.4 versus 106.9; both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M.
Model A · Google
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT25.8B · 4.4B active · 256K context · Apache 2.0 · Mar 2026
Model B · Alibaba
Qwen3.6 35B A3B36.0B · 4.7B active · 256K context · Apache 2.0 · Apr 2026
Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B IT if you want…
Fits a 12 GB GPU
IQ3_S · 12 GB; Qwen3.6 35B A3B needs 10.4 GB at its smallest quant
Lighter on memory
16.1 vs 22.0 GB at Q4_K_M
Choose Qwen3.6 35B A3B if you want…
Stronger at science
109.9 vs 102.2
On your hardware
Each model at its default quant (Q4_K_M), a smaller one when it must. Estimates, ±20%.
8 GB
RTX 4060 · 8 GB tier
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Doesn't fit
smallest quant needs 8.1 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Doesn't fit
smallest quant needs 10.4 GB
12 GB
RTX 3060 12GB · 12 GB tier
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
IQ3_S · ~99 tok/s
12 GB · up to 16Kbetter quant
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
IQ2_S · ~114 tok/s
11.7 GB · up to 32K
16 GB
RTX 5060 Ti 16GB · 16 GB tier
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Q4_1 · ~95 tok/s
15.5 GB · up to 16Kbetter quant
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Q2_K · ~108 tok/s
15.7 GB · up to 32K
24 GBreference
RTX 4090 · 24 GB tier
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Q4_K_M · ~171 tok/s
16.5 GB · up to 128Kfaster
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Q4_K_M · ~151 tok/s
22 GB · up to 128K
32 GB
RTX 5090 · 32 GB tier
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Q4_K_M · ~250 tok/s
16.5 GB · up to 256Kfaster
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Q4_K_M · ~213 tok/s
22 GB · up to 256K
48 GB
RTX A6000 · 48 GB tier
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Q4_K_M · ~140 tok/s
16.5 GB · up to 256Kfaster
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Q4_K_M · ~125 tok/s
22 GB · up to 256K
Mac 32 GB
Mac Mini M4 · Macs
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Q4_K_M · ~26 tok/s
16.5 GB · up to 256K
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Q4_K_M · ~24 tok/s
22 GB · up to 256K
Mac 64 GB
Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Q4_K_M · ~76 tok/s
16.5 GB · up to 256Kfaster
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Q4_K_M · ~64 tok/s
22 GB · up to 256K
Mac 128 GB
Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Q4_K_M · ~76 tok/s
16.5 GB · up to 256Kfaster
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Q4_K_M · ~64 tok/s
22 GB · up to 256K
Reference GPU: RTX 4090. Tinted cell = the better pick on that machine (fits, more headroom, or at least 10% faster).
Overall
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Coding
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Math
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
no data
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Science
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Reasoning
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT · #37 of 92 open models · #6 of 34 that fit 24 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B · #33 of 92 open models · #3 of 34 that fit 24 GB
Benchmarks
8 shared boards: Gemma 4 26B A4B IT leads 3, Qwen3.6 35B A3B leads 4 · Benchmarks imported Oct 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
73.2%#29/97 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
84.9%#20/97 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
82.2%#23/85 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
86.7%#19/85 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
40.1%#30/65 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
35.8%#41/65 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
35.2%#34/46 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
34.5%#35/46 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
6.0%#27/67 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
26.0%#5/67 open
IndependentEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
0.0%#50/65 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
0.3%#44/65 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
74.9%#29/68 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
73.9%#30/68 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
29.7%#20/54 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
29.7%#19/54 open
Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Apr 2026
7 more boards (other shared and single-model boards)
Only Gemma 4 26B A4B IT (3)
- LMArena Text1437.6
- LMArena WebDev1359.0
- ALE-Bench927.2
Only Qwen3.6 35B A3B (4)
- FrontierMath20.3%
- Terminal-Bench23.0%
- Mystery Game Puzzles22.0%
- Surface Evolver Bench44.4%
VRAM by quantization
Memory to load the model and 2K context; below it, the total at 32K and 128K context. Lighter side in bold.
Q2_K
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
11.6 GB11.0 GB file
32K 12.5 GB · 128K 15.8 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
15.7 GB13.5 GB file
32K 15.9 GB · 128K 16.9 GB
Q3_K_S
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
11.9 GB12.6 GB file
32K 12.8 GB · 128K 16.2 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
16.1 GB15.4 GB file
32K 16.4 GB · 128K 17.4 GB
Q3_K_M
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
13.2 GB12.7 GB file
32K 14.1 GB · 128K 17.5 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
17.9 GB16.6 GB file
32K 18.2 GB · 128K 19.2 GB
Q4_0
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
13.6 GB~12.9 GB file
32K 14.5 GB · 128K 17.8 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
18.4 GB~18.0 GB file
32K 18.6 GB · 128K 19.6 GB
Q4_K_M
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
16.1 GB16.9 GB file
32K 17.0 GB · 128K 20.4 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
22.0 GB22.1 GB file
32K 22.2 GB · 128K 23.2 GB
Q5_K_M
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
19.0 GB21.2 GB file
32K 19.9 GB · 128K 23.3 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
26.0 GB26.5 GB file
32K 26.3 GB · 128K 27.3 GB
Q6_K
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
21.9 GB23.2 GB file
32K 22.8 GB · 128K 26.2 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
30.0 GB29.3 GB file
32K 30.3 GB · 128K 31.3 GB
Q8_0
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
26.5 GB~25.8 GB file
32K 27.4 GB · 128K 30.7 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
36.3 GB36.9 GB file
32K 36.6 GB · 128K 37.6 GB
20 more quants
IQ2_XXS
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
7.7 GB9.9 GB file
32K 8.6 GB · 128K 12.0 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
10.3 GB10.8 GB file
32K 10.5 GB · 128K 11.5 GB
IQ2_XS
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
8.4 GB10.1 GB file
32K 9.3 GB · 128K 12.6 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
11.2 GB11.7 GB file
32K 11.4 GB · 128K 12.4 GB
IQ2_S
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
8.7 GB10.2 GB file
32K 9.6 GB · 128K 12.9 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
11.6 GB11.9 GB file
32K 11.9 GB · 128K 12.9 GB
IQ2_M
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
9.4 GB10.0 GB file
32K 10.3 GB · 128K 13.6 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
12.5 GB11.5 GB file
32K 12.8 GB · 128K 13.8 GB
IQ3_XXS
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
10.7 GB11.4 GB file
32K 11.6 GB · 128K 14.9 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
14.3 GB13.2 GB file
32K 14.6 GB · 128K 15.6 GB
Q2_K_S
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
11.0 GB10.6 GB file
32K 11.9 GB · 128K 15.2 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
14.8 GB12.2 GB file
32K 15.0 GB · 128K 16.0 GB
IQ3_XS
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
11.3 GB12.4 GB file
32K 12.2 GB · 128K 15.5 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
15.2 GB17.1 GB file
32K 15.5 GB · 128K 16.5 GB
IQ3_S
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
11.6 GB11.3 GB file
32K 12.5 GB · 128K 15.8 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
15.7 GB13.7 GB file
32K 15.9 GB · 128K 16.9 GB
IQ3_M
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
12.3 GB13.3 GB file
32K 13.2 GB · 128K 16.5 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
16.6 GB17.8 GB file
32K 16.8 GB · 128K 17.8 GB
Q3_K_L
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
13.9 GB13.2 GB file
32K 14.8 GB · 128K 18.1 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
18.8 GB17.8 GB file
32K 19.1 GB · 128K 20.1 GB
IQ4_XS
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
14.5 GB13.6 GB file
32K 15.4 GB · 128K 18.7 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
19.7 GB17.7 GB file
32K 20.0 GB · 128K 21.0 GB
IQ4_NL
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
15.2 GB13.6 GB file
32K 16.1 GB · 128K 19.4 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
20.6 GB18.0 GB file
32K 20.9 GB · 128K 21.9 GB
Q4_1
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
15.2 GB16.1 GB file
32K 16.1 GB · 128K 19.4 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
20.6 GB22.9 GB file
32K 20.9 GB · 128K 21.9 GB
Q4_K_S
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
15.2 GB16.5 GB file
32K 16.1 GB · 128K 19.4 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
20.6 GB20.9 GB file
32K 20.9 GB · 128K 21.9 GB
Q4_K_L
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
16.5 GB17.2 GB file
32K 17.4 GB · 128K 20.7 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
22.4 GB22.7 GB file
32K 22.7 GB · 128K 23.7 GB
Q5_0
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
16.8 GB17.5 GB file
32K 17.7 GB · 128K 21.0 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
22.9 GB24.1 GB file
32K 23.1 GB · 128K 24.1 GB
Q5_1
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
not listed
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
25.1 GB26.1 GB file
32K 25.4 GB · 128K 26.4 GB
Q5_K_S
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
18.4 GB18.9 GB file
32K 19.3 GB · 128K 22.6 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
25.1 GB24.9 GB file
32K 25.4 GB · 128K 26.4 GB
Q5_K_L
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
19.4 GB19.5 GB file
32K 20.3 GB · 128K 23.6 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
26.5 GB26.2 GB file
32K 26.7 GB · 128K 27.7 GB
BF16
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
52.3 GB~51.6 GB file
32K 53.2 GB · 128K 56.5 GB
Qwen3.6 35B A3B
72.3 GB69.4 GB file
32K 72.5 GB · 128K 73.6 GB
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT
Ollama · Q4_K_M
ollama run hf.co/unsloth/gemma-4-26B-A4B-it-GGUF:Q4_K_MQwen3.6 35B A3B
Ollama · Q4_K_M
ollama run hf.co/unsloth/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-GGUF:Q4_K_M| Spec | Gemma 4 26B A4B IT | Qwen3.6 35B A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Alibaba | |
| Parameters | 25.8B | 36.0B |
| Active parameters | 4.4B per token | 4.7B per token |
| Architecture | Gemma4ForConditionalGeneration | Qwen3_5MoeForConditionalGeneration |
| Context | 256K tokens | 256K tokens |
| Modalities | Vision, Function-calling | Vision, Function-calling |
| License | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Released | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT or Qwen3.6 35B A3B?
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT and Qwen3.6 35B A3B match in llmrun Score, with values of 105.4 versus 106.9; both fit 24 GB at Q4_K_M. Choose Gemma 4 26B A4B IT for fits a 12 GB GPU and lighter on memory; choose Qwen3.6 35B A3B for stronger at science.
Which needs less VRAM, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT or Qwen3.6 35B A3B?
At Q4_K_M, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT requires 16.1 GB while Qwen3.6 35B A3B needs 22.0 GB, making Gemma 4 26B A4B IT the easier model to run on your local setup.
Which is faster on RTX 4090?
Estimated decode speed on RTX 4090 is about 171 tok/s for Gemma 4 26B A4B IT (Q4_K_M) and 151 tok/s for Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Q4_K_M), so Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is faster. Estimates, ±20%.
Can I run Gemma 4 26B A4B IT or Qwen3.6 35B A3B on a 16 GB GPU?
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT fits at Q4_1; Qwen3.6 35B A3B fits at Q2_K.
Which has a longer context window, Gemma 4 26B A4B IT or Qwen3.6 35B A3B?
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT supports 262,144 tokens and Qwen3.6 35B A3B supports 262,144 tokens.