Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs MiniMax-M3.1-Flash
Too close to call on our weighted score (MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 70, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.
NVIDIANemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.055 / $0.20
- Context262K
MiniMaxMiniMax-M3.1-Flash
70/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.60
- Context1M
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 70/100, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B on price and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash for long inputs. 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 $0.091 · MiniMax-M3.1-Flash $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMiniMax-M3.1-FlashMiniMax-M3.1-Flash 1,000,000 · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsMiniMax-M3.1-FlashNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text · MiniMax-M3.1-Flash: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B | MiniMax-M3.1-Flash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 95 | 74 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 70/100 |
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 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIA | MiniMax-M3.1-FlashMiniMax |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.055 (best) | $0.15 |
| Output | $0.20 (best) | $0.60 |
| Cached input | — | $0.015 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.091 (best) | $0.263 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 10 providers | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 262,144 tokens | 512,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b | MiniMax-M3.1-Flash |
| API providers | 15 | 25 (best) |
| Released | Aug 11, 2026 | Oct 19, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 2025 | — |
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
- MiniMax-M3.1-Flash$2.70
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or MiniMax-M3.1-Flash?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 70/100, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B on price and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash for long inputs. 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 MiniMax-M3.1-Flash?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is cheaper at $0.055 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 10 API providers; free on Nvidia). MiniMax-M3.1-Flash costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.091 per million tokens for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B versus $0.263 for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash (2.9× 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 MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 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 MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 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?
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B. Maximum output per response: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash up to 512,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text; MiniMax-M3.1-Flash accepts text, images and video. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is proprietary.
Which is newer?
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is the newest, released Oct 19, 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.
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