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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT

DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT comes out ahead, 75 to 68 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. NVIDIA

    Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B

    Released Aug 11, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.055 / $0.20
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
  2. Our pick

    Google

    DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT

    Released Jun 9, 2026

    75/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.05 / $0.15
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT is our pick

DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 75/100 against Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (68). It leads on price and 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 priceDiffusionGemma 26B A4B ITDiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT $0.075 · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.091 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 · DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsDiffusionGemma 26B A4B ITNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text · DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BDiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT
Price50%9599
Inputs & features30%4560
Context window20%3737
Overall100%68/10075/100

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.

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIADiffusionGemma 26B A4B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.055$0.05 (best)
Output$0.20$0.15 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.091$0.075 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 10 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens262,144 tokens
Max output262,144 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenApache 2.0
API model IDnvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b—
API providers15 (best)2
ReleasedAug 11, 2026Jun 9, 2026
Knowledge cutoffSep 2025Jan 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.

  • Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B$0.95
  • DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT$0.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT?

DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 75/100 against Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (68). It leads on price and 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, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT?

DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). 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 $0.091 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has not been scored yet and DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B and DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 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?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B and DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144, DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text; DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT accepts text and images. DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 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?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the newest, released Aug 11, 2026. DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT came out Jun 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B Sep 2025, DiffusionGemma 26B A4B IT 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 Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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