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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Hermes 3 70B Instruct vs Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct vs Aya Expanse 32B

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct comes out ahead, 25 to 10 and 10 on our weighted score.

  1. Nous Research

    Hermes 3 70B Instruct

    Released Aug 18, 2024

    10/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.70 / $0.70
    • Context131K
  2. Our pick

    NVIDIA

    Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct

    Released Aug 21, 2024

    25/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context128K
  3. Cohere

    Aya Expanse 32B

    Released Oct 24, 2024

    10/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $1.50
    • Context128K
01 — Verdict

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is our pick

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Hermes 3 70B Instruct (10) and Aya Expanse 32B (10). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 priceHermes 3 70B InstructHermes 3 70B Instruct $0.70 · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct unpriced
  • Longest contextHermes 3 70B InstructHermes 3 70B Instruct 131,072 · Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct 128,000 · Aya Expanse 32B 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsHermes 3 70B Instruct: Text · Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct: Text · Aya Expanse 32B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightHermes 3 70B InstructNemotron Mini 4B InstructAya Expanse 32B
Inputs & features60%0250
Context window40%252424
Overall100%10/10025/10010/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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.

Hermes 3 70B Instruct vs Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct vs Aya Expanse 32B specifications side by side
SpecificationHermes 3 70B InstructNous ResearchNemotron Mini 4B InstructNVIDIAAya Expanse 32BCohere
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$0.70—$0.50 (best)
Output$0.70 (best)—$1.50
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$0.70 (best)—$0.75
Long-context rateSame rate—Same rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providers—Official Cohere API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens128,000 tokens
Max output16,384 tokens (best)8,192 tokens4,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoNo
Tool callingNoYesNo
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenOpenCC-BY-NC-4.0
API model ID——c4ai-aya-expanse-32b
API providers5 (best)—2
ReleasedAug 18, 2024Aug 21, 2024Oct 24, 2024
Knowledge cutoffDec 31, 2023——
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.

  • Hermes 3 70B Instruct$8.40
  • Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct—
  • Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Hermes 3 70B Instruct, Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct or Aya Expanse 32B?

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Hermes 3 70B Instruct (10) and Aya Expanse 32B (10). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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, Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct or Aya Expanse 32B?

Hermes 3 70B Instruct is cheaper at $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 $0.70 per million tokens for Hermes 3 70B Instruct versus $0.75 for Aya Expanse 32B (1.1× as much). Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct has no published per-token price.

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, Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct 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, Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct 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?

Hermes 3 70B Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct and 128,000 for Aya Expanse 32B. Maximum output per response: Hermes 3 70B Instruct up to 16,384, Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct 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; Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct accepts text; Aya Expanse 32B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, all three publish their weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Aya Expanse 32B is the newest, released Oct 24, 2024. Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct came out Aug 21, 2024; Hermes 3 70B Instruct came out Aug 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Hermes 3 70B Instruct Dec 31, 2023.

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.