Schematron V2 Small vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B comes out ahead, 68 to 52 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Inference.net
Schematron V2 Small
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $0.23
- Context128K
- Our pick
NVIDIANemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
68/100- ECI—
- Price$0.055 / $0.20
- Context262K
Add a model
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 68/100 against Schematron V2 Small (52). 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 priceNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.091 · Schematron V2 Small $0.095 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 · Schematron V2 Small 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsSchematron V2 Small: Text · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text
- Self-hostingNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Schematron V2 Small | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 94 | 95 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 68/100 |
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 | Schematron V2 SmallInference.net | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.05 (best) | $0.055 |
| Output | $0.23 | $0.20 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.095 | $0.091 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Median of 10 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b |
| API providers | 5 | 15 (best) |
| Released | Apr 16, 2026 | Aug 11, 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.
- Schematron V2 Small$0.96
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B$0.95
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Schematron V2 Small or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Schematron V2 Small (52). 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, Schematron V2 Small or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
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). Schematron V2 Small costs $0.05 input / $0.23 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). 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 $0.095 for Schematron V2 Small (1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Schematron V2 Small has not been scored yet and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Schematron V2 Small and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Schematron V2 Small 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 128,000 for Schematron V2 Small. Maximum output per response: Schematron V2 Small up to 4,096, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Schematron V2 Small accepts text; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Schematron V2 Small is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the newest, released Aug 11, 2026. Schematron V2 Small came out Apr 16, 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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