API cost decision in 10 seconds

Gemma 3 27B vs R1 0528

Pick Gemma 3 27B for lower cost; pick R1 0528 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T19:08:13Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Gemma 3 27B for lower cost; pick R1 0528 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 27B is estimated at $0.16 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.42 (89.8% lower).

Cost-first pickGemma 3 27B

Context-first pickR1 0528

Sample savings$1.4289.8%

10x traffic gap$14.15

R1 0528 has more context, but Gemma 3 27B saves $1.42 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $14.15. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Gemma 3 27B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Gemma 3 27B	R1 0528
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Gemma 3 27B	$0.48	$3.58
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Gemma 3 27B	$0.24	$2.65
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Gemma 3 27B	$0.88	$11.25

Cheaper input Gemma 3 27B $0.08 vs $0.5 / 1M

Gemma 3 27B is $0.42 cheaper per 1M input tokens (84% lower; 6.25x difference).

Cheaper output Gemma 3 27B $0.16 vs $2.15 / 1M

Gemma 3 27B is $1.99 cheaper per 1M output tokens (92.6% lower; 13.4x difference).

Larger context R1 0528 131.07K vs 163.84K

R1 0528 has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Sample workload Gemma 3 27B $0.16 vs $1.57

Gemma 3 27B is $1.42 cheaper on the standard workload (89.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Gemma 3 27B Calculating… Estimated API cost

R1 0528 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Gemma 3 27B has the lower input price; Gemma 3 27B has the lower output price; R1 0528 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Gemma 3 27B is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.16 for Gemma 3 27B and $1.57 for R1 0528.

Best Fit

Choose Gemma 3 27B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose R1 0528 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 27B is estimated at $0.16 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.42 (89.8% lower).
Gemma 3 27B is $1.42 cheaper on the standard workload (89.8% lower).
Gemma 3 27B is $0.42 cheaper per 1M input tokens (84% lower; 6.25x difference).
Gemma 3 27B is $1.99 cheaper per 1M output tokens (92.6% lower; 13.4x difference).
R1 0528 has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Gemma 3 27B (Google)	R1 0528 (DeepSeek)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.08	$0.5
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.16	$2.15
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.16	$1.57
Context Window	131.07K	163.84K
Release Date	2025-03-12	2025-05-28
Popularity	#86	#106

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Gemma 3 27B	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Gemma 3 27B is estimated at $0.16 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $1.42 (89.8% lower).
High-volume input processing	Gemma 3 27B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Gemma 3 27B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	R1 0528	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Gemma 4 31B (free) can replace Gemma 3 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) can replace Gemma 3 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Clip Preview can replace Gemma 3 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Lyria 3 Pro Preview can replace Gemma 3 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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Google catalog

Review all tracked Google models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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DeepSeek catalog

Check other DeepSeek models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

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Gemma 3 27B

Gemma 3 introduces multimodality, supporting vision-language input and text outputs. It handles context windows up to 128k tokens, understands over 140 languages, and offers improved math, reasoning, and chat capabilities,...

R1 0528

May 28th update to the [original DeepSeek R1](/deepseek/deepseek-r1) Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 671B parameters in size, with 37B active...