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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs Granite 4.2 8B

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B comes out ahead, 68 to 64 on our weighted score, though Granite 4.2 8B is 10% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    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. IBM

    Granite 4.2 8B

    Released Aug 25, 2026

    64/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.06 / $0.15
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Granite 4.2 8B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is our pick

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Granite 4.2 8B (64). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Granite 4.2 8B 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 priceGranite 4.2 8BGranite 4.2 8B $0.083 · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.091 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 · Granite 4.2 8B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text · Granite 4.2 8B: Text
  • 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 A3BGranite 4.2 8B
Price50%9597
Inputs & features30%4535
Context window20%3725
Overall100%68/10064/100

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 Granite 4.2 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIAGranite 4.2 8BIBM
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.055 (best)$0.06
Output$0.20$0.15 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.091$0.083 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 10 providersMedian of 7 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output262,144 tokens (best)117,964 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDnvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b—
API providers15 (best)7
ReleasedAug 11, 2026Aug 25, 2026
Knowledge cutoffSep 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
  • Granite 4.2 8B$0.90
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Granite 4.2 8B?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Granite 4.2 8B (64). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Granite 4.2 8B 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 Granite 4.2 8B?

Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). 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 $0.083 per million tokens for Granite 4.2 8B versus $0.091 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B (1.1× 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 Granite 4.2 8B 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 Granite 4.2 8B 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 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Granite 4.2 8B. Maximum output per response: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144, Granite 4.2 8B up to 117,964 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text; Granite 4.2 8B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

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

Which is newer?

Granite 4.2 8B is the newest, released Aug 25, 2026. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B came out Aug 11, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B Sep 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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