Granite 4.2 8B vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
At a Glance
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.060Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 | Not reported |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.25Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 | Not reported |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 131K | 1,049K |
| Model facts checked | Sep 2, 2026View model evidence → | Sep 3, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Granite 4.2 8B | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,316.7899% of row best · rating · granite-4.2-8b; 95% CI [1305.41435264, 1328.15511064]; votes 3087; rank 225 | 1,330.72100% of row best · rating · nvidia-nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b-nvfp4; 95% CI [1323.44362436, 1337.99938875]; votes 8338; rank 213 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above · 1 tie | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Granite 4.2 8B | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | IBM | NVIDIA |
| Family | Granite 4 2 | Nvidia Nemotron 3 5 Lightning |
| Model | Granite 4.2 8B | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
| Version | Granite 4.2 8B | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-08-25 | 2026-08-11 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 131K | 1,049K |
| Total parameters | 8.8B | 30B |
| Active parameters | Unknown | 3B |
| License | apache-2.0 | openmdw-1.1 |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Provider access | Deepinfra (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) | Fireworks Ai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | agents, chat, generation, reasoning, tools |
Granite 4.2 8B Capabilities
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B Capabilities
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Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Granite 4.2 8B vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B FAQs
Is Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Granite 4.2 8B and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
Only Granite 4.2 8B has a directly sourced input price: $0.060 per million tokens. Only Granite 4.2 8B has a directly sourced output price: $0.25 per million tokens.
Which has a larger context window, Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has the larger sourced context window. Granite 4.2 8B supports 131K and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B supports 1,049K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: supported. Granite 4.2 8B is open weight; NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is open weight.
Can Granite 4.2 8B and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B understand images?+
Granite 4.2 8B is not documented with image input; NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is not documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Granite 4.2 8B is — and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is —.
Do Granite 4.2 8B and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B support reasoning and tool use?+
Granite 4.2 8B: reasoning and tool calling. NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: reasoning and tool calling. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
Granite 4.2 8B has 2 sourced provider routes; NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has 1, so Granite 4.2 8B has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Granite 4.2 8B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.