NVIDIA, open weights

# Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

> Nemotron 3.5 Lightning by NVIDIA, released August 2026. Ranked #155 of 354 with a Noometry Index of 40.0. API: $0.05 in / $0.20 out per M tokens. 262K context. Scores, sources and comparisons.
- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/models/nemotron-3-5-lightning
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Title: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Benchmarks, Price & Rank (October 2026)

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning by NVIDIA ranks 155th of 354 ranked models on the Noometry Index as of October 2026, with a score of 40.0. Its strongest category is reasoning, where it ranks 127th. API pricing starts at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens, with a 262K-token context window.

Last verified October 10, 2026

## Specifications

- **Noometry rank:** #155 of 354
- **Index score:** 40.0
- **Evidence:** Confirmed 18 results
- **Provider:** [![](/logos/nvidia.svg) NVIDIA](https://noometry.com/providers/nvidia)
- **Released:** August 11, 2026
- **Weights:** Open weights
- **Reasoning:** Yes
- **Context window:** 262K
- **Max output:** 262K
- **Input price:** $0.05 / M
- **Output price:** $0.20 / M
- **Blended price:** $0.0875 / M
- **Output speed:** Not measured
- **Value:** #10 of 219
- **Knowledge cutoff:** Unknown
- **Input:** text
- **Hugging Face:** [nvidia/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3.5-Lightning-30B-A3B-BF16](https://huggingface.co/nvidia/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3.5-Lightning-30B-A3B-BF16)

## Category scores

Each category score combines every public result we have in that category.

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning category scores

1.  Coding 40.4
2.  Reasoning 26.8
3.  Math 37.5
4.  Knowledge 37.5
5.  Multilingual 44.0
6.  Instruction Following 69.6
7.  Long Context 39.9
8.  Writing & Preference 48.5
9.  020406080

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning category ranks
| Category | Score | Rank | Results |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Coding](https://noometry.com/best/coding) | 40.4 | #141 | 1 |
| [Reasoning](https://noometry.com/best/reasoning) | 26.8 | #127 | 1 |
| [Math](https://noometry.com/best/math) | 37.5 | #155 | 1 |
| [Knowledge](https://noometry.com/best/knowledge) | 37.5 | #154 | 1 |
| [Multilingual](https://noometry.com/best/multilingual) | 44.0 | #180 | 1 |
| [Instruction Following](https://noometry.com/best/instruction-following) | 69.6 | #170 | 1 |
| [Long Context](https://noometry.com/best/long-context) | 39.9 | #165 | 1 |
| [Writing & Preference](https://noometry.com/best/writing) | 48.5 | #201 | 4 |

## Strengths and weaknesses

Categories where Nemotron 3.5 Lightning places highest and lowest among the models ranked in each, with its score against that category's median.

### Strongest categories

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: strongest categories
| Category | Score | vs median | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Reasoning](https://noometry.com/best/reasoning) | 26.8 | +3.2 | #127 of 350, top 37% |
| [Coding](https://noometry.com/best/coding) | 40.4 | +1.7 | #141 of 340, top 42% |
| [Math](https://noometry.com/best/math) | 37.5 | +0.9 | #155 of 327, top 48% |

### Weakest categories

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: weakest categories
| Category | Score | vs median | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Writing & Preference](https://noometry.com/best/writing) | 48.5 | −5.3 | #201 of 312, top 65% |
| [Multilingual](https://noometry.com/best/multilingual) | 44.0 | −3.4 | #180 of 297, top 61% |
| [Long Context](https://noometry.com/best/long-context) | 39.9 | −1.0 | #165 of 296, top 56% |

## Closest competitors

The models ranked just above and below Nemotron 3.5 Lightning. When scores are this close, price and speed are often the better way to choose.

Models ranked closest to Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
| Model | Rank | Score | Blended $/M | Speed |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Nvidia Llama 3.3 Nemotron Super 49b v1.5](https://noometry.com/models/nvidia-llama-3-3-nemotron-super-49b-v1-5) | #151 | 40.3 | $0.40 | — | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-nvidia-llama-3-3-nemotron-super-49b-v1-5) |
| [Mistral Medium 3.5](https://noometry.com/models/mistral-medium-3-5) | #152 | 40.2 | $3 | 50 | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/mistral-medium-3-5-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning) |
| [Nemotron 3 Super](https://noometry.com/models/nemotron-3-super) | #153 | 40.1 | $0.17 | — | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-nemotron-3-super) |
| [Llama 3.3 Nemotron 49b Super v1](https://noometry.com/models/llama-3-3-nemotron-49b-super-v1) | #154 | 40.1 | — | — | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/llama-3-3-nemotron-49b-super-v1-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning) |
| [Qwen3.7 Flash](https://noometry.com/models/qwen3-7-flash) | #156 | 39.9 | $0.055 | — | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-qwen3-7-flash) |
| [Grok 3](https://noometry.com/models/grok-3) | #157 | 39.9 | — | 42 | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/grok-3-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning) |
| [GLM-4.5V](https://noometry.com/models/glm-4-5v) | #158 | 39.8 | $0.90 | 34 | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/glm-4-5v-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning) |
| [QwQ-32B](https://noometry.com/models/qwq-32b) | #159 | 39.8 | — | — | [Compare](https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-qwq-32b) |

Sponsored placements are available on pages like this one. [Advertise on Noometry](https://noometry.com/advertise)

## Benchmark results

Every published result we track, with its source. Bold rows are the ones used for ranking; where several exist we prefer independent runs over self-reported numbers.

### Coding

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Coding benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Coding](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-coding) | 1375 | #154 of 294, top 53% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

### Reasoning

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Reasoning benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Hard Prompts](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-hard-prompts) | 1337 | #166 of 297, top 56% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

### Math

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Math benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Math](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-math) | 1359 | #159 of 285, top 56% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

### Knowledge

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Knowledge benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Expert](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-expert) | 1356 | #153 of 273, top 57% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

### Multilingual

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Multilingual benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Non-English](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-non-english) | 1295 | #180 of 297, top 61% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena Chinese](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-chinese) | 1359 | #161 of 285, top 57% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena French](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-french) | 1366 | #138 of 223, top 62% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena German](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-german) | 1282 | #158 of 231, top 69% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena Japanese](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-japanese) | 1206 | #158 of 211, top 75% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena Korean](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-korean) | 1238 | #147 of 213, top 70% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena Russian](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-russian) | 1253 | #210 of 283, top 75% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena Spanish](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-spanish) | 1345 | #149 of 226, top 66% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

### Instruction Following

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Instruction Following benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Instruction Following](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-instruction-following) | 1318 | #163 of 298, top 55% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

### Long Context

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Long Context benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Longer Query](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-longer-query) | 1314 | #177 of 291, top 61% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

### Writing & Preference

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning Writing & Preference benchmark results
| Benchmark | Score | Position | Setting | Source | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [LMArena Text](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-text) | 1327 | #175 of 297, top 59% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [LMArena Creative Writing](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-creative-writing) | 1254 | #201 of 295, top 69% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |
| [EQ-Bench Creative Writing](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/eqbench-creative-writing) | 1280 | #79 of 115, top 69% |  | [EQ-Bench](https://eqbench.com/creative_writing.html) |  |
| [LMArena Multi-Turn](https://noometry.com/benchmarks/arena-multi-turn) | 1328 | #173 of 295, top 59% |  | [LMArena](https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard/text) | 2026-10-08 |

## API pricing by provider

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning API prices
| Route | Input $/M | Output $/M | Cached input $/M | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [fireworks](https://fireworks.ai/docs/) | $0.05 | $0.20 | $0.01 | 2026-10-10 |
| [openrouter](https://openrouter.ai/nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning) | $0.07 | $0.20 | $0.04 | 2026-10-10 |

[All NVIDIA API prices →](https://noometry.com/llm-pricing/nvidia) [Estimate your cost →](https://noometry.com/tools/cost-calculator)

## Compare Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Llama 3.3 Nemotron 49b Super v1](https://noometry.com/compare/llama-3-3-nemotron-49b-super-v1-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Qwen3.7 Flash](https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-qwen3-7-flash)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Nemotron 3 Super](https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-nemotron-3-super)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Grok 3](https://noometry.com/compare/grok-3-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Mistral Medium 3.5](https://noometry.com/compare/mistral-medium-3-5-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs GLM-4.5V](https://noometry.com/compare/glm-4-5v-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs GPT-6 Astra](https://noometry.com/compare/gpt-6-astra-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Claude Fable 5.1](https://noometry.com/compare/claude-fable-5-1-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Gemini 3.8 Flash](https://noometry.com/compare/gemini-3-8-flash-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Kimi K3](https://noometry.com/compare/kimi-k3-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Grok 4.6](https://noometry.com/compare/grok-4-6-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Qwen3.8 Max](https://noometry.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-lightning-vs-qwen3-8-max)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs GLM-5.3](https://noometry.com/compare/glm-5-3-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)
-   [Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Muse Spark 1.3](https://noometry.com/compare/muse-spark-1-3-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning)

## Other NVIDIA models

-   [Nemotron 3 Ultra](https://noometry.com/models/nemotron-3-ultra)42.5
-   [Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B](https://noometry.com/models/nemotron-3-nano-30b-a3b)40.6
-   [Nvidia Llama 3.3 Nemotron Super 49b v1.5](https://noometry.com/models/nvidia-llama-3-3-nemotron-super-49b-v1-5)40.3
-   [Nemotron 3 Super](https://noometry.com/models/nemotron-3-super)40.1
-   [Llama 3.3 Nemotron 49b Super v1](https://noometry.com/models/llama-3-3-nemotron-49b-super-v1)40.1
-   [Llama 3.1 Nemotron 70b Instruct](https://noometry.com/models/llama-3-1-nemotron-70b-instruct)37.6
-   [Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253b v1](https://noometry.com/models/llama-3-1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1)36.7
-   [Llama 3.1 Nemotron 51b Instruct](https://noometry.com/models/llama-3-1-nemotron-51b-instruct)35.9

## Frequently asked questions

### How good is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning by NVIDIA ranks 155th of 354 ranked models on the Noometry Index as of October 2026, with a score of 40.0. Its strongest category is reasoning, where it ranks 127th. API pricing starts at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens, with a 262K-token context window.

### How much does Nemotron 3.5 Lightning cost?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens on fireworks, with cached input at $0.01.

### What is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning's context window?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning accepts up to 262K tokens of input and can write up to 262K tokens in one response.

### Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning open source?

Yes. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning's weights are downloadable from Hugging Face (nvidia/NVIDIA-Nemotron-3.5-Lightning-30B-A3B-BF16); check the license for commercial terms.

### What are Nemotron 3.5 Lightning's strengths and weaknesses?

Relative to other ranked models, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning places best in reasoning, coding, math and lowest in writing & preference, multilingual, long context.

### What is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning best at?

Its best category is reasoning, where it ranks 127th on Noometry.

### Cite this page

Noometry. (2026). Nemotron 3.5 Lightning benchmarks and pricing. Retrieved October 10, 2026, from https://noometry.com/models/nemotron-3-5-lightning

Quote Noometry with a link back to this page. It is also available in [Markdown](https://noometry.com/md/models/nemotron-3-5-lightning.md).