Aya Expanse 32B vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B comes out ahead, 65 to 33 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
CohereAya Expanse 32B
33/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
- Our pick
NVIDIALlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
65/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is our pick
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameAya Expanse 32B 128,000 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsAya Expanse 32B: Text · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Aya Expanse 32B | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 56 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 33/100 | 65/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Aya Expanse 32BCohere | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.50 | Free (best) |
| Output | $1.50 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.75 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Official Nvidia API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 4,000 tokens | 8,192 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 | Open |
| API model ID | c4ai-aya-expanse-32b | nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1 |
| API providers | 2 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Oct 24, 2024 | Apr 7, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Aya Expanse 32B or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Aya Expanse 32B (33). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Aya Expanse 32B or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). Aya Expanse 32B costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Aya Expanse 32B has not been scored yet and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Aya Expanse 32B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Aya Expanse 32B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Aya Expanse 32B and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B share the same 128,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Aya Expanse 32B accepts text; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the newest, released Apr 7, 2025. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 2024.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
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