solar-mini vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B comes out ahead, 65 to 52 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Upstage
solar-mini
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
- Our pick
NVIDIALlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
65/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is our pick
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against solar-mini (52). It leads on price, 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 priceLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · solar-mini $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputssolar-mini: Text · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text
- Self-hostingLlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | solar-mini | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 65/100 |
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 | solar-miniUpstage | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 | Free (best) |
| Output | $0.15 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.15 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Upstage API | Official Nvidia API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 8,192 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | solar-mini | nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1 |
| API providers | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Jun 12, 2024 | Apr 7, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 2024 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- solar-mini$1.80
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: solar-mini or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against solar-mini (52). It leads on price, 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, solar-mini or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price). solar-mini costs $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. solar-mini has not been scored yet and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for solar-mini and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 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?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: solar-mini up to 4,096, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
solar-mini accepts text; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; solar-mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B is the newest, released Apr 7, 2025. solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: solar-mini Sep 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.
