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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 85 to 65 on our weighted score.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    85/100
    • ECI133.9
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  2. NVIDIA

    Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

    Released Apr 7, 2025

    65/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B (65). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B wins 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 priceLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text
  • Self-hostingLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
Price50%86100
Inputs & features30%10035
Context window20%6124
Overall100%85/10065/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogleLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)133.9—
ECI rank#118 of 148—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10Free (best)
Output$0.40Free (best)
Cached input$0.01—
Blended (3:1)$0.175Free (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Nvidia API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgemini-2.5-flash-litenvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1
API providers20 (best)1
ReleasedJun 17, 2025Apr 7, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJan 2025—
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
  • Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 85/100 against Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B (65). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B wins 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 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). Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite costs $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). 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. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has an ECI of 133.9 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 Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 128,000 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the newest, released Jun 17, 2025. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B came out Apr 7, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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