Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Qwen2.5 7B Instruct
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 1.4x less per output token than Qwen2.5 7B Instruct ($0.147 vs $0.20 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- 22.6
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.147
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.20
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct: which to pick
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has results on AA Coding Index, SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) and Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI); Qwen2.5 7B Instruct on Epoch Capabilities Index, BALROG and GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run). Compare them on price and context instead.
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
No call
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a AA Intelligence Index result, 12.9.
Directional only
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 33K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.0001, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct $0.0002 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, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning $0.147 against Qwen2.5 7B Instruct $0.20 per million output tokens, 1.4x apart.
- Context window
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning takes 262K tokens, Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 33K.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index9 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | 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 |
| 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 30 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 12.9 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 118.5 | Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | 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 |
| BALROG | Not measured | 7.8% | Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 74.3% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 10.6% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 35.5% | Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 2.5% | Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 54.2% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning measured |
| MMLU | Not measured | 72.9% | Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct | 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 | 47.7% | Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 6.4% | Only Qwen2.5 7B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 42 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 | Qwen2.5 7B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | NVIDIA | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | August 11, 2026 | October 16, 2024 |
| Context window | 262K | 33K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.0534 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.147 | $0.20 |
| 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 Qwen2.5 7B Instruct for coding?
Only Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has a coding score, 22.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct 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 Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs $0.0534 per million input tokens and $0.147 per million output tokens; Qwen2.5 7B Instruct costs $0.10 and $0.20. Cost per solved task is known for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning only.
Which has the bigger context window, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, with 262K tokens against 33K.
Has any benchmark tested both Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and Qwen2.5 7B Instruct?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has results on AA Coding Index, SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) and Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI); Qwen2.5 7B Instruct on Epoch Capabilities Index, BALROG and GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run). Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 22, 2026.