Ministral 3 3B vs Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL
Ministral 3 3B comes out ahead, 74 to 63 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Mistral AIMinistral 3 3B
74/100- ECI—
- Price$0.10 / $0.10
- Context262K
NVIDIANemotron Nano 12B v2 VL
63/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.60
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Ministral 3 3B is our pick
Ministral 3 3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (63). It leads on price and context window. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL wins on 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 priceMinistral 3 3BMinistral 3 3B $0.10 · Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL $0.30 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMinistral 3 3BMinistral 3 3B 262,144 · Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsNemotron Nano 12B v2 VLMinistral 3 3B: Text, Images · Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Ministral 3 3B | Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 97 | 75 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 74/100 | 63/100 |
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 | Ministral 3 3BMistral AI | Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VLNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.10 (best) | $0.20 |
| Output | $0.10 (best) | $0.60 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.10 (best) | $0.30 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 262,144 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenApache 2.0 | Open |
| API model ID | — | nvidia/nemotron-nano-12b-v2-vl |
| API providers | 1 | 4 (best) |
| Released | Dec 2, 2025 | Oct 28, 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.
- Ministral 3 3B$1.20
- Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL$3.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Ministral 3 3B or Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL?
Ministral 3 3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (63). It leads on price and context window. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL wins on 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, Ministral 3 3B or Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL?
Ministral 3 3B is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.10 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL costs $0.20 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers; free on Nvidia). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.10 per million tokens for Ministral 3 3B versus $0.30 for Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Ministral 3 3B has not been scored yet and Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Ministral 3 3B and Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL 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?
Ministral 3 3B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL. Maximum output per response: Ministral 3 3B up to 262,144, Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Ministral 3 3B accepts text and images; Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL accepts text, images and video. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Ministral 3 3B is the newest, released Dec 2, 2025. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL came out Oct 28, 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.
