Hermes 3 70B Instruct vs Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite vs Aya Expanse 32B
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 82 to 32 and 32 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Nous ResearchHermes 3 70B Instruct
32/100- ECI—
- Price$0.70 / $0.70
- Context131K
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
82/100- ECI—
- Price$0.064 / $0.255
- Context1.05M
CohereAya Expanse 32B
32/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is our pick
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Hermes 3 70B Instruct (32) and Aya Expanse 32B (32). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 priceGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite $0.111 · Hermes 3 70B Instruct $0.70 · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Hermes 3 70B Instruct 131,072 · Aya Expanse 32B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteHermes 3 70B Instruct: Text · Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
- Self-hostingHermes 3 70B Instruct and Aya Expanse 32BPublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
| Measure | Weight | Hermes 3 70B Instruct | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Aya Expanse 32B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 55 | 91 | 53 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 80 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 61 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 32/100 | 82/100 | 32/100 |
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 | Hermes 3 70B InstructNous Research | Gemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGoogle | Aya Expanse 32BCohere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.70 | $0.064 (best) | $0.50 |
| Output | $0.70 | $0.255 (best) | $1.50 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.70 | $0.111 (best) | $0.75 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Median of 2 providers | Official Cohere API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens | 4,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | Yes | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 |
| API model ID | — | — | c4ai-aya-expanse-32b |
| API providers | 5 (best) | 3 | 2 |
| Released | Aug 18, 2024 | Dec 11, 2024 | Oct 24, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 31, 2023 | Jun 2024 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Hermes 3 70B Instruct$8.40
- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite$1.15
- Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hermes 3 70B Instruct, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite or Aya Expanse 32B?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Hermes 3 70B Instruct (32) and Aya Expanse 32B (32). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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, Hermes 3 70B Instruct, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite or Aya Expanse 32B?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is cheaper at $0.064 input / $0.255 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Hermes 3 70B Instruct costs $0.70 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); Aya Expanse 32B costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.111 per million tokens for Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite versus $0.70 for Hermes 3 70B Instruct (6.3× as much) and $0.75 for Aya Expanse 32B (6.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Hermes 3 70B Instruct has not been scored yet, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet and Aya Expanse 32B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Hermes 3 70B Instruct, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Aya Expanse 32B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Hermes 3 70B Instruct and Aya Expanse 32B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 131,072 for Hermes 3 70B Instruct and 128,000 for Aya Expanse 32B. Maximum output per response: Hermes 3 70B Instruct up to 16,384, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite up to 8,192, Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hermes 3 70B Instruct accepts text; Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Aya Expanse 32B accepts text. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hermes 3 70B Instruct and Aya Expanse 32B publishes its weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the newest, released Dec 11, 2024. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 2024; Hermes 3 70B Instruct came out Aug 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 3 70B Instruct Dec 31, 2023, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite Jun 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 Nov 2, 2026.
