DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT vs Ling 3.0 Flash VL vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
Too close to call on our weighted score (Ling 3.0 Flash VL 76, DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 75, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.
GoogleDiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT
75/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.15
- Context262K
inclusionAILing 3.0 Flash VL
76/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.18
- Context262K
NVIDIANemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.055 / $0.20
- Context262K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Ling 3.0 Flash VL 76/100, DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 75/100, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT on price. 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 priceDiffusionGemma 26B A4B ITDiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT $0.075 · Ling 3.0 Flash VL $0.09 · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.091 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameDiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 262,144 · Ling 3.0 Flash VL 262,144 · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsLing 3.0 Flash VLDiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT: Text, Images · Ling 3.0 Flash VL: Text, Images, Video · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT | Ling 3.0 Flash VL | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 99 | 95 | 95 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 70 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 37 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 75/100 | 76/100 | 68/100 |
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 | DiffusionGemma 26B A4B ITGoogle | Ling 3.0 Flash VLinclusionAI | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.05 (best) | $0.06 | $0.055 |
| Output | $0.15 (best) | $0.18 | $0.20 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.075 (best) | $0.09 | $0.091 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 7 providers | Median of 10 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenApache 2.0 | OpenMIT | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b |
| API providers | 2 | 7 | 15 (best) |
| Released | Jun 9, 2026 | Sep 10, 2026 | Aug 11, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | — | Sep 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT$0.80
- Ling 3.0 Flash VL$0.96
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B$0.95
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT, Ling 3.0 Flash VL or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Ling 3.0 Flash VL 76/100, DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 75/100, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT on price. 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, DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT, Ling 3.0 Flash VL or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Ling 3.0 Flash VL costs $0.06 input / $0.18 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers); Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B costs $0.055 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 10 API providers; free on Nvidia). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.075 per million tokens for DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT versus $0.09 for Ling 3.0 Flash VL (1.2× as much) and $0.091 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT has not been scored yet, Ling 3.0 Flash VL has not been scored yet and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT, Ling 3.0 Flash VL and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT, Ling 3.0 Flash VL and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT up to 32,768, Ling 3.0 Flash VL up to 32,768, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT accepts text and images; Ling 3.0 Flash VL accepts text, images and video; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text. Ling 3.0 Flash VL handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache 2.0 and MIT), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Ling 3.0 Flash VL is the newest, released Sep 10, 2026. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B came out Aug 11, 2026; DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT came out Jun 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT Jan 2025, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B Sep 2025.
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 Nov 2, 2026.
