LOOKS
The Mazda CX-9, offered since 2007, is showing some signs of age in its exterior and interior design. But it still serves its purpose well -- that being to offer a three-row SUV to families who need to get around and have lots of people to take with them. It’s attractive and comfortable inside, well-designed, but not overly flashy.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee, on the road since 1993, is still going strong and has gotten some fresh new looks over the years. The vehicle I tested was a bit more high end on the interior too, offering quality leather seating and plush overall accommodations.

Here’s the kicker: The Mazda CX-9 does offer a third row of seats; but the Jeep Grand Cherokee does not -- a very important deciding factor for families. Keep in mind too, that the Mazda has limited storage room with the third row of seats in use, but the Jeep has lots of room in back due to a lack of third row.

One way to look at it is that small families will work best with the Jeep, large families in the Mazda.

ENGINE, HORSEPOWER
The Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit 4x4 I tested featured a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine that pushed 290 horsepower. The Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring AWD I tested featured a 3.7-liter V6 -- and 273 horsepower.

The numbers aren’t too far apart, but I was much more impressed by the ride quality and power in the Jeep. The CX-9 did not offer as much acceleration as I would have preferred, and the handling was also a bit disappointing at times.

TECHNOLOGY
The Jeep features UConnect, arguably the best and most user-friendly tech interface on the market, so this isn’t a fair fight in this category. The tech features in the Mazda are pretty outdated-looking -- though still easy to control. Honestly, they’re due for a refresh, and with the recent good work Mazda has done on updating their smaller cars I’m sure the CX-9 will improve in this category in future years.

SAFETY
In the safety arena, the most telling statistic is that the Jeep was nearly perfect in the government’s five-star safety ratings, while the Mazda CX-9 didn’t test as well.
That’s a bit of a concern in an era where safety is among the biggest factors people consider when buying a vehicle.

MPG
Numbers were pretty even here:
Mazda’s CX-9 came in at 16 city/22 highway/18 combined
The Grand Cherokee’s numbers were listed at 17 city/24 highway/19 combined, though in my testing they fell about even with the Mazda. Call this a toss-up.

PRICE
The Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit 4x4 starts at $51,995, and my test vehicle came in at $53,485 after options. Base price for the Grand Cherokee is $29,995, and the top-level SRT model is nearly $65,000 to start, so there is a lot of variety offered, with various levels of luxury and performance.

Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring starts at $36,625; and my test vehicle came in at $39,890 after options. Base price on the CX-9 is $29,985, and the model I tested is the top of the line, so the maximum cost is quite a bit lower than the higher-end Jeeps.

BOTTOM LINE
The Mazda CX-9 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee are two SUV options for families, featuring a similar exterior size, but much different interiors.

There are fewer seats in the Jeep (five, compared to 7 in the CX-9), so it will attract different sized families than the CX-9.

As far as the interior, the Grand Cherokee was my favorite of the two, but it was also a lot more high-end. Those with smaller families and some extra money to burn may gravitate toward the Jeep and its extra comforts, over the simple yet utilitarian layout of the Mazda. Those with larger families will gravitate toward the extra seating of the CX-9, as utility will outweigh their desire for beauty.

Both are solid vehicles that have their own strengths, the Jeep just trends a bit more upscale and the price reflects that.

One last differentiator here is that anyone considering any off-roading would be wise to choose the Jeep, which is made for such activity (within reason) over the CX-9, which is not.

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Matt Myftiu can be foundon Twitter @MattMyftiu.