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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B vs Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B comes out ahead, 68 to 63 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    NVIDIA

    Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B

    Released Dec 15, 2025Deprecated

    68/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.05 / $0.20
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B

  2. NVIDIA

    Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL

    Released Oct 28, 2025Deprecated

    63/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $0.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is our pick

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (63). It leads on price and context window. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL wins on 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 priceNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B $0.087 · Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL $0.30 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 262,144 · Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsNemotron Nano 12B v2 VLNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: Text · Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BNemotron Nano 12B v2 VL
Price50%10075
Inputs & features30%3570
Context window20%3724
Overall100%68/10063/100

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 Nano 30B A3B vs Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BNVIDIANemotron Nano 12B v2 VLNVIDIA
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.05 (best)$0.20
Output$0.20 (best)$0.60
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.087 (best)$0.30
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 13 providersMedian of 3 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDnvidia/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3bnvidia/nemotron-nano-12b-v2-vl
API providers16 (best)4
ReleasedDec 15, 2025Oct 28, 2025
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 Nano 30B A3B$0.90
  • Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL$3.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B or Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL?

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (63). It leads on price and context window. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL wins on 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 Nano 30B A3B or Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL?

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 13 API providers; free on Nvidia). Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL costs $0.20 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers; free on Nvidia). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.087 per million tokens for Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B versus $0.30 for Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (3.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has not been scored yet and Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B and Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL 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 Nano 30B A3B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL. Maximum output per response: Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B up to 262,144, Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B accepts text; Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL accepts text, images and video. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL 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 Nano 30B A3B is the newest, released Dec 15, 2025. Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL came out Oct 28, 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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