Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B vs Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash leads Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 17.0 to 8.9, and Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs 1.4x less per output token ($0.22 vs $0.30 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 35 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B or Step 3.5 Flash: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B for output tokens 1.4x cheaper ($0.22 vs $0.30 per million) and work measured by Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) or LMArena Text: coding, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 35
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B only
- 7
- Step 3.5 Flash only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 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
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Step 3.5 Flash
Step 3.5 Flash leads, 17.0 against 8.9.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has a AA Agentic Index result, 1.0.
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 Nano 30B A3B
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B $0.0002, Step 3.5 Flash $0.0003 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B not benchmarked, Step 3.5 Flash not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Agentic work, 53.5 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- τ²-Bench Telecom: Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 40.9% against Step 3.5 Flash 94.4%, 53.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B $0.22 against Step 3.5 Flash $0.30 per million output tokens, 1.4x 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 Nano 30B A3B | Bars | Step 3.5 Flash | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 3 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 5 | ||
| Math | 0 | 2 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 4 | ||
| General | 1 | 18 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 34 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index03
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 14.4 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 74.1% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| SciCode | 30.6% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 13.6% | 32.6% | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1378 | 1436 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1383 | 1434 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 8.9 | 17.0 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 1.0 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 40.9% | 94.4% | Step 3.5 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index05
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 75.7% | 83.1% | Step 3.5 Flash |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 11.4% | 24.5% | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1348 | 1411 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1355 | 1421 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1376 | 1421 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 91.0 | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 91.0% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1371 | 1408 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1375 | 1421 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 79.4% | Not measured | Only Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1353 | 1415 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1349 | 1408 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1341 | 1408 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1346 | 1394 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index118
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 71.1% | 66.5% | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 38.0% | 63.0% | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text | 1348 | 1403 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1303 | 1385 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1269 | 1357 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: English | 1377 | 1417 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1320 | 1385 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1383 | 1446 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: German | 1348 | 1405 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1268 | 1353 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1269 | 1351 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: French | 1396 | 1421 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1376 | 1419 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1304 | 1385 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1303 | 1389 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1319 | 1404 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1300 | 1402 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1283 | 1372 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1293 | 1360 | Step 3.5 Flash |
| 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 Nano 30B A3B | Step 3.5 Flash | 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 Nano 30B A3B costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 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 Nano 30B A3B | StepFun Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | NVIDIA | StepFun |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | December 14, 2025 | January 29, 2026 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.055 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.22 | $0.30 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B better than Step 3.5 Flash for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B for output tokens 1.4x cheaper ($0.22 vs $0.30 per million) and work measured by Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) or LMArena Text: coding, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B or Step 3.5 Flash?
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs $0.055 per million input tokens and $0.22 per million output tokens; Step 3.5 Flash costs $0.10 and $0.30. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B or Step 3.5 Flash?
Neither: both take 262K tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B vs Step 3.5 Flash comparison based on?
35 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Step 3.5 Flash's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.