ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct vs Aya Expanse 8B

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct comes out ahead, 25 to 0 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    NVIDIA

    Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct

    Released Aug 21, 2024Deprecated

    25/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context128K
  2. Cohere

    Aya Expanse 8B

    Released Oct 24, 2024

    0/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context8K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is our pick

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Aya Expanse 8B (0). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 Mini 4B InstructNemotron Mini 4B Instruct Free per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Aya Expanse 8B unpriced
  • Longest contextNemotron Mini 4B InstructNemotron Mini 4B Instruct 128,000 · Aya Expanse 8B 8,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsNemotron Mini 4B Instruct: Text · Aya Expanse 8B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNemotron Mini 4B InstructAya Expanse 8B
Inputs & features60%250
Context window40%240
Overall100%25/1000/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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 Mini 4B Instruct vs Aya Expanse 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron Mini 4B InstructNVIDIAAya Expanse 8BCohere
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
InputFree—
OutputFree—
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)Free—
Long-context rateSame rate—
Price sourceOfficial Nvidia API—
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens (best)8,000 tokens
Max output8,192 tokens (best)4,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenCC-BY-NC-4.0
API model IDnvidia/nemotron-mini-4b-instruct—
API providers1—
ReleasedAug 21, 2024Oct 24, 2024
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 Mini 4B InstructFree
  • Aya Expanse 8B—
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct or Aya Expanse 8B?

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 25/100 against Aya Expanse 8B (0). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct or Aya Expanse 8B?

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). . Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct is listed as free. Aya Expanse 8B has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct has not been scored yet and Aya Expanse 8B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct and Aya Expanse 8B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Aya Expanse 8B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 8,000 for Aya Expanse 8B. Maximum output per response: Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct up to 8,192, Aya Expanse 8B up to 4,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct accepts text; Aya Expanse 8B 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?

Aya Expanse 8B is the newest, released Oct 24, 2024. Nemotron Mini 4B Instruct came out Aug 21, 2024.

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.