Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs North Small Translate
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B comes out ahead, 71 to 50 on our weighted score.
- Our pick
NVIDIANemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.20
- Context262K
CohereNorth Small Translate
50/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context16K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is our pick
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against North Small Translate (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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 priceNorth Small TranslateNorth Small Translate Free · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.087 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 · North Small Translate 16,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text · North Small Translate: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B | North Small Translate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 71/100 | 50/100 |
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 | North Small TranslateCohere |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.05 | Free (best) |
| Output | $0.20 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.087 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 9 providers | Official Cohere API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 16,000 tokens |
| Max output | 262,144 tokens (best) | 16,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 |
| API model ID | nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b | north-small-translate-09-2026 |
| API providers | 12 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Aug 11, 2026 | Sep 9, 2026 |
| 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.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B$0.90
- North Small TranslateFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or North Small Translate?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against North Small Translate (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. 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 North Small Translate?
North Small Translate is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B costs $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers; free on Nvidia). North Small Translate is listed as free.
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 North Small Translate 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 North Small Translate yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that North Small Translate does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 16,000 for North Small Translate. Maximum output per response: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144, North Small Translate up to 16,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text; North Small Translate accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
North Small Translate is the newest, released Sep 9, 2026. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B came out Aug 11, 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.
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