Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads Nemotron 3.5 Lightning on coding, 30.0 to 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 16.3x less per output token ($0.147 vs $2.40 per million). Updated October 23, 2026; 16 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Nemotron 3 Ultra: which to pick
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra for coding: it scores 30.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 22.6 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning.
Pick Nemotron 3.5 Lightning for output tokens 16.3x cheaper ($0.147 vs $2.40 per million).
- Shared results
- 16
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only
- 4
- Nemotron 3 Ultra only
- 55
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 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
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra scores 30.0 against 22.6.
2 and 3 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads, 22.9 against 12.9.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
Nemotron 3 Ultra
Nemotron 3 Ultra leads, 20.1 against 3.5.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a GPQA Diamond result, 86.1%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a MMLU Pro result, 85.8%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Nemotron 3 Ultra has a Design Arena: websites result, 1145.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 262K tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.0001, Nemotron 3 Ultra $0.0018 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
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 22.6 from 2 benchmarks, Nemotron 3 Ultra 30.0 from 3 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- General, 19.0 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI): Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 10.9% against Nemotron 3 Ultra 50.9%, 40.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.147 against Nemotron 3 Ultra $2.40 per million output tokens, 16.3x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 262K tokens.
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 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Bars | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 6 | 1 tie | |
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 4 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 2 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 1 | ||
| General | 0 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 15 | 1 tie |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index06
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 26.8 | 49.3 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 86.0% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 52.8% | 69.0% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | 7.6% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 3.0% | 4.9% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | 0.0% | Tie |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 10.9% | 50.9% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | 29.5% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| SciCode | 32.1% | 40.3% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 36.4% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| FrontierCode | Not measured | 13.6% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| WeirdML | Not measured | 43.5% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| ALE-Bench | 769.2 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1467 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1468 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 12.9 | 22.9 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 146.0 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 3.5 | 20.1 | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 18.5% | 37.7% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 2.6% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 2.9% | 15.4% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 17.0% | 31.7% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 83.3% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| APEX-Agents | Not measured | 22.7% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| MCP Atlas | Not measured | 63.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 86.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 74.3% | 86.7% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 10.6% | 28.4% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 85.4% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | Not measured | 20.0% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1452 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1472 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1453 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 86.7% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| ProofBench | Not measured | 2.0% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1457 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1462 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | Not measured | 85.8% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 82.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 54.2% | 65.5% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | Not measured | 73.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | Not measured | 38.6% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1465 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1455 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1453 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1435 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | Not measured | 1145 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | Not measured | 1135 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | Not measured | 1138 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | Not measured | 1142 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 1132 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | Not measured | 1146 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 1069 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | Not measured | 1100 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 4.3% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| IFBench | Not measured | 81.4% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 60.3% | 79.3% | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
| DTBench | Not measured | 90.1% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 36.9% | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1445 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1418 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1398 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1454 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1427 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1498 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1474 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1385 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1473 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1454 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1417 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | Not measured | 1385 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1411 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1437 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1405 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1397 | Only Nemotron 3 Ultra measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Nemotron 3 Ultra | 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 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | NVIDIA | NVIDIA |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | August 11, 2026 | June 4, 2026 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.0534 | $0.60 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.147 | $2.40 |
| Coding index | 22.6 | 30.0 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 3 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.06 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better than Nemotron 3 Ultra for coding?
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra for coding: it scores 30.0 on the Vibe Coding Index against 22.6 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning. Pick Nemotron 3.5 Lightning for output tokens 16.3x cheaper ($0.147 vs $2.40 per million).
Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs $0.0534 per million input tokens and $0.147 per million output tokens; Nemotron 3 Ultra costs $0.60 and $2.40. Cost per solved task is known for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only.
Which has the bigger context window, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Nemotron 3 Ultra?
Neither: both take 262K tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Nemotron 3 Ultra comparison based on?
16 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 23, 2026. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Nemotron 3 Ultra's on 3. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.