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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs Gemma 4 12B IT

Gemma 4 12B IT comes out ahead, 75 to 71 on our weighted score, though Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is 30% cheaper per token.

  1. NVIDIA

    Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B

    Released Aug 11, 2026

    71/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.05 / $0.20
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemma 4 12B IT

    Released Jun 9, 2026

    75/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.075 / $0.275
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 4 12B IT

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma 4 12B IT is our pick

Gemma 4 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 75/100 against Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (71). It leads on inputs & features. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 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 priceNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.087 · Gemma 4 12B IT $0.125 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 · Gemma 4 12B IT 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma 4 12B ITNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text · Gemma 4 12B 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 A3BGemma 4 12B IT
Price50%10093
Inputs & features30%4570
Context window20%3737
Overall100%71/10075/100

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 Gemma 4 12B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIAGemma 4 12B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.075
Output$0.20 (best)$0.275
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.087 (best)$0.125
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 9 providersMedian of 2 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 outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDnvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b—
API providers12 (best)2
ReleasedAug 11, 2026Jun 9, 2026
Knowledge cutoff——
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$0.90
  • Gemma 4 12B IT$1.30
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Gemma 4 12B IT?

Gemma 4 12B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 75/100 against Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (71). It leads on inputs & features. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 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, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Gemma 4 12B IT?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers; free on Nvidia). Gemma 4 12B IT costs $0.075 input / $0.275 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.087 per million tokens for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B versus $0.125 for Gemma 4 12B IT (1.4× 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 Gemma 4 12B 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 Gemma 4 12B 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 Gemma 4 12B IT share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144, Gemma 4 12B IT up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text; Gemma 4 12B IT accepts text and images. Gemma 4 12B IT handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the newest, released Aug 11, 2026. Gemma 4 12B IT came out Jun 9, 2026.

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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