Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs o3 Pro
o3 Pro leads Nemotron 3.5 Lightning on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 21.9 to 12.9, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 544.2x less per output token ($0.147 vs $80.00 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 2 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or o3 Pro: which to pick
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; o3 Pro has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick o3 Pro for work measured by AA Intelligence Index or GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run), where it leads.
- Shared results
- 2
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only
- 18
- o3 Pro only
- 9
- Like-for-like categories
- 2 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
o3 Pro
o3 Pro leads, 21.9 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
Long documents
Listed context window
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning takes 262K tokens against 200K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.0001, o3 Pro $0.060 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, o3 Pro not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Reasoning, 10.2 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run): Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 74.3% against o3 Pro 84.5%, 10.2 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.147 against o3 Pro $80.00 per million output tokens, 544.2x apart.
- Context window
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning takes 262K tokens, o3 Pro 200K.
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 | o3 Pro | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 2 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index11 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aider polyglot | Not measured | 84.9% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| AA Coding Index | 26.8 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 52.8% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 3.0% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 10.9% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | 29.5% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| SciCode | 32.1% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| WeirdML | Not measured | 58.2% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| ALE-Bench | 769.2 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 12.9 | 21.9 | o3 Pro |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 147.3 | Only o3 Pro measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 3.5 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 18.5% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 2.6% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 2.9% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 17.0% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 74.3% | 84.5% | o3 Pro |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 10.6% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| ARC-AGI | Not measured | 59.3% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | Not measured | 4.9% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | 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 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 54.2% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 4.3% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 60.3% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 86.9% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 38.5% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| Fiction.LiveBench | Not measured | 97.2% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| Creative writing (Lech Mazur) | Not measured | 84.4% | Only o3 Pro measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | o3 Pro | 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 | OpenAI o3 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | NVIDIA | OpenAI |
| Weights | Open weights | No public weights listed |
| Released | August 11, 2026 | June 10, 2025 |
| Context window | 262K | 200K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.0534 | $20.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.147 | $80.00 |
| Coding index | 22.6 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.06 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better than o3 Pro for coding?
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; o3 Pro has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick o3 Pro for work measured by AA Intelligence Index or GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run), where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or o3 Pro?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs $0.0534 per million input tokens and $0.147 per million output tokens; o3 Pro costs $20.00 and $80.00. Cost per solved task is known for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only.
Which has the bigger context window, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or o3 Pro?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, with 262K tokens against 200K.
How many benchmarks is the Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs o3 Pro comparison based on?
2 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and o3 Pro's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.