DeepSeek V3.1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
DeepSeek V3.1 leads Nemotron 3.5 Lightning on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 13.7 to 12.9, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 10.2x less per output token ($0.147 vs $1.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 1 benchmarks have a result for both.
DeepSeek V3.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: which to pick
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; DeepSeek V3.1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick DeepSeek V3.1 for work measured by AA Intelligence Index, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 1
- DeepSeek V3.1 only
- 10
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only
- 19
- Like-for-like categories
- 1 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
DeepSeek V3.1
DeepSeek V3.1 leads, 13.7 against 12.9.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a AA Agentic Index result, 3.5.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only DeepSeek V3.1 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1122.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning takes 262K tokens against 164K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
DeepSeek V3.1 $0.0013, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.0001 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has the number, $0.06.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- DeepSeek V3.1 not benchmarked, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 22.6 from 2 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 0.8 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- AA Intelligence Index: DeepSeek V3.1 13.7 against Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 12.9, 0.8 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- DeepSeek V3.1 $1.50 against Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.147 per million output tokens, 10.2x apart.
- Context window
- DeepSeek V3.1 takes 164K tokens, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 262K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | DeepSeek V3.1 | Bars | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index9 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 26.8 | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | Not measured | 52.8% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | Not measured | 3.0% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 10.9% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 29.5% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 32.1% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| ALE-Bench | Not measured | 769.2 | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 30 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 13.7 | 12.9 | DeepSeek V3.1 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 3.5 | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | Not measured | 18.5% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 2.6% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 2.9% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 17.0% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 36 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 74.3% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 10.6% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 53.2% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 13 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | Not measured | 54.2% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1122 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1085 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1084 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1096 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1077 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1112 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 967 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | Not measured | 4.3% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 60.3% | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| DTBench | 82.7% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| LMCA | 24.3% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 42 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | DeepSeek V3.1 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | DeepSeek | NVIDIA |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | August 21, 2025 | August 11, 2026 |
| Context window | 164K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.55 | $0.0534 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.50 | $0.147 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | 22.6 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 2 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $0.06 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is DeepSeek V3.1 better than Nemotron 3.5 Lightning for coding?
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; DeepSeek V3.1 has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick DeepSeek V3.1 for work measured by AA Intelligence Index, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
DeepSeek V3.1 costs $0.55 per million input tokens and $1.50 per million output tokens; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs $0.0534 and $0.147. Cost per solved task is known for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only.
Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek V3.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, with 262K tokens against 164K.
How many benchmarks is the DeepSeek V3.1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning comparison based on?
1 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. DeepSeek V3.1's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.