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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 vs Baichuan M2 32B vs Apertus 8B

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 comes out ahead, 62 to 58 and 54 on our weighted score, though Baichuan M2 32B is 32% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    NVIDIA

    Nemotron Nano 9B v2

    Released Aug 18, 2025

    62/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.06 / $0.23
    • Context131K
  2. Baichuan

    Baichuan M2 32B

    Released Aug 13, 2025

    58/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.07 / $0.07
    • Context131K
  3. Swiss AI

    Apertus 8B

    Released Sep 2, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.20
    • Context66K
01 — Verdict

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is our pick

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Baichuan M2 32B (58) and Apertus 8B (54). It leads on inputs & features. Baichuan M2 32B 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 priceBaichuan M2 32BBaichuan M2 32B $0.07 · Nemotron Nano 9B v2 $0.102 · Apertus 8B $0.125 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextNemotron Nano 9B v2 and Baichuan M2 32BNemotron Nano 9B v2 131,072 · Baichuan M2 32B 131,072 · Apertus 8B 65,536 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsNemotron Nano 9B v2: Text · Baichuan M2 32B: Text · Apertus 8B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNemotron Nano 9B v2Baichuan M2 32BApertus 8B
Price50%9310089
Inputs & features30%351025
Context window20%252512
Overall100%62/10058/10054/100

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 Nano 9B v2 vs Baichuan M2 32B vs Apertus 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationNemotron Nano 9B v2NVIDIABaichuan M2 32BBaichuanApertus 8BSwiss AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$0.06 (best)$0.07$0.10
Output$0.23$0.07 (best)$0.20
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$0.102$0.07 (best)$0.125
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 3 providersMedian of 1 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)131,072 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)131,072 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYesYesNo
Tool callingYesNoYes
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenApache-2.0OpenApache-2.0
API model ID———
API providers3 (best)11
ReleasedAug 18, 2025Aug 13, 2025Sep 2, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 2024—Sep 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 Nano 9B v2$1.06
  • Baichuan M2 32B$0.84
  • Apertus 8B$1.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Nemotron Nano 9B v2, Baichuan M2 32B or Apertus 8B?

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against Baichuan M2 32B (58) and Apertus 8B (54). It leads on inputs & features. Baichuan M2 32B 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 Nano 9B v2, Baichuan M2 32B or Apertus 8B?

Baichuan M2 32B is cheaper at $0.07 input / $0.07 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Nemotron Nano 9B v2 costs $0.06 input / $0.23 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers); Apertus 8B costs $0.10 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.07 per million tokens for Baichuan M2 32B versus $0.102 for Nemotron Nano 9B v2 (1.5× as much) and $0.125 for Apertus 8B (1.8× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Nemotron Nano 9B v2 has not been scored yet, Baichuan M2 32B has not been scored yet and Apertus 8B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nemotron Nano 9B v2, Baichuan M2 32B and Apertus 8B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Baichuan M2 32B does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 and Baichuan M2 32B have the largest context windows (131,072 and 131,072 tokens), against 65,536 for Apertus 8B. Maximum output per response: Nemotron Nano 9B v2 up to 131,072, Baichuan M2 32B up to 131,072, Apertus 8B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 accepts text; Baichuan M2 32B accepts text; Apertus 8B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Apertus 8B is the newest, released Sep 2, 2025. Nemotron Nano 9B v2 came out Aug 18, 2025; Baichuan M2 32B came out Aug 13, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Nemotron Nano 9B v2 Sep 2024, Apertus 8B 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.