Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Sonar
Updated October 21, 2026. 3 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Sonar has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
- Shared results
- 3
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only
- 17
- Sonar only
- 2
- Like-for-like categories
- 2 of 9
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.
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
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads, 12.9 against 7.7.
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 127K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.0001, Sonar $0.0015 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, Sonar not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Reasoning, 16.5 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run): Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 74.3% against Sonar 47.1%, 27.2 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.147 against Sonar $1.00 per million output tokens, 6.8x apart.
- Context window
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning takes 262K tokens, Sonar 127K.
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 | Sonar | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 2 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 3 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index10 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 29.5% | Only Sonar measured |
| SciCode | 32.1% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| ALE-Bench | 769.2 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 12.9 | 7.7 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
| 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 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | 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 index20
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 74.3% | 47.1% | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 10.6% | 4.9% | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
| 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 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 13 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 54.2% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 68.9% | Only Sonar measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | 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 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 44 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Sonar | 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 | Perplexity Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | NVIDIA | Perplexity |
| Weights | Open weights | No public weights listed |
| Released | August 11, 2026 | January 27, 2025 |
| Context window | 262K | 127K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.0534 | $1.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.147 | $1.00 |
| 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 Sonar for coding?
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Sonar has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Sonar?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs $0.0534 per million input tokens and $0.147 per million output tokens; Sonar costs $1.00 and $1.00. Cost per solved task is known for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only.
Which has the bigger context window, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Sonar?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, with 262K tokens against 127K.
How many benchmarks is the Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Sonar comparison based on?
3 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 Sonar's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.