Kimi K2.6 vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B
At a Glance
| Compare |  Kimi K2.6Moonshot AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | #32 of 4650.5 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 33.6–67.0 | UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | #21 of 44$0.095 per LiveBench case | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | #24 of 3850.1 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 41.7–58.4 | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.75Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 | Not reported |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $3.50Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 | Not reported |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 262K | 1,049K |
| Model facts checked | Aug 28, 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 | Kimi-K2.6 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,454.92100% of row best · rating · kimi-k2.6; 95% CI [1450.40277919, 1459.43693683]; votes 37502; rank 38 | 1,330.7291% 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 benchmark winNo 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 | Kimi-K2.6 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Moonshot AI | NVIDIA |
| Family | Kimi K2 6 | Nvidia Nemotron 3 5 Lightning |
| Model | Kimi-K2.6 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
| Version | Kimi-K2.6 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-04-20 | 2026-08-11 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 262K | 1,049K |
| Total parameters | 1T | 30B |
| Active parameters | 32B | 3B |
| License | other | openmdw-1.1 |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Provider access | Deepinfra (Standard), Fireworks Ai (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) | Fireworks Ai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, tools | agents, chat, generation, reasoning, tools |
Kimi K2.6 Capabilities
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B Capabilities
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Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Kimi K2.6 vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B FAQs
Is Kimi K2.6 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Kimi K2.6 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, Kimi K2.6 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
Only Kimi K2.6 has a directly sourced input price: $0.75 per million tokens. Only Kimi K2.6 has a directly sourced output price: $3.50 per million tokens.
Which has a larger context window, Kimi K2.6 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has the larger sourced context window. Kimi K2.6 supports 262K and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B supports 1,049K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Kimi K2.6 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 Kimi K2.6 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: supported. Kimi K2.6 is open weight; NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is open weight.
Can Kimi K2.6 and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B understand images?+
Kimi K2.6 is 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, Kimi K2.6 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Kimi K2.6 is — and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is —.
Do Kimi K2.6 and NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B support reasoning and tool use?+
Kimi K2.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. 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, Kimi K2.6 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B?+
Kimi K2.6 has 5 sourced provider routes; NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has 1, so Kimi K2.6 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Kimi K2.6 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.