Seed 2.1 Pro vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B comes out ahead, 71 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
ByteDance SeedSeed 2.1 Pro
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.891 / $4.45
- Context256K
- Our pick
NVIDIANemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
71/100- ECI—
- Price$0.05 / $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 71/100 against Seed 2.1 Pro (50). It leads on price. Seed 2.1 Pro 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 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B $0.087 · Seed 2.1 Pro $1.78 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B 262,144 · Seed 2.1 Pro 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSeed 2.1 ProSeed 2.1 Pro: Text, Images, Video · Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: Text
- Self-hostingNemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Seed 2.1 Pro | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 38 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 80 | 45 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 71/100 |
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 | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.891 | $0.05 (best) |
| Output | $4.45 | $0.20 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.178 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.78 | $0.087 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Volcengine Ark API | Median of 9 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 256,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | doubao-seed-2-1-pro-260628 | nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b |
| API providers | 2 | 12 (best) |
| Released | Jun 23, 2026 | Aug 11, 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.
- Seed 2.1 Pro$17.81
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B$0.90
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Seed 2.1 Pro or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against Seed 2.1 Pro (50). It leads on price. Seed 2.1 Pro 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, Seed 2.1 Pro or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is cheaper at $0.05 input / $0.20 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers; free on Nvidia). Seed 2.1 Pro costs $0.891 input / $4.45 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.087 per million tokens for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B versus $1.78 for Seed 2.1 Pro (20× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Seed 2.1 Pro 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 Seed 2.1 Pro 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 256,000 for Seed 2.1 Pro. Maximum output per response: Seed 2.1 Pro up to 256,000, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B up to 262,144 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Seed 2.1 Pro accepts text, images and video; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B accepts text. Seed 2.1 Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Seed 2.1 Pro is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the newest, released Aug 11, 2026. Seed 2.1 Pro came out Jun 23, 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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