NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs Grok 4.5
At a Glance
| Compare | Grok 4.5xAI | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort | #25 of 4660.1 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort | #15 of 44$0.063 per LiveBench case |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort | #11 of 3859.2 score · 3/3 sources · complete |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | Not reported | $2.00Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | Not reported | $6.00Xai ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 1,049K | 500K |
| Model facts checked | Sep 3, 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 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,330.7292% of row best · rating · nvidia-nemotron-3.5-lightning-30b-a3b-nvfp4; 95% CI [1323.44362436, 1337.99938875]; votes 8338; rank 213 | 1,450.13100% of row best · rating · grok-4.5; 95% CI [1445.44268767, 1454.81726995]; votes 30103; rank 45 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner | 1 benchmark winNo 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 | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | NVIDIA | xAI |
| Family | Nvidia Nemotron 3 5 Lightning | Grok 4 |
| Model | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B | Grok 4.5 |
| Version | NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B-A3B | Grok 4.5 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-08-11 | 2026-07-16 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,049K | 500K |
| Total parameters | 30B | Unknown |
| Active parameters | 3B | Unknown |
| License | openmdw-1.1 | Unknown |
| Open weights | Yes | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Provider access | Fireworks Ai (Standard) | Xai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | agents, chat, generation, reasoning, tools | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools |
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B Capabilities
Grok 4.5 Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
| vs |  GPT-6 AstraOpenAI | cross-developer peerstext | |
Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle DeepMind | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs | Grok 4.6xAI | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peerstext | |
 Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext | |
| vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext | |
Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | vs | cross-developer peerstext | |
 Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | vs | cross-developer peerstext |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B vs Grok 4.5 FAQs
Is NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B and Grok 4.5, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5?+
Only Grok 4.5 has a directly sourced input price: $2.00 per million tokens. Only Grok 4.5 has a directly sourced output price: $6.00 per million tokens.
Which has a larger context window, NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5?+
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has the larger sourced context window. NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B supports 1,049K and Grok 4.5 supports 500K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5 be self-hosted?+
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is open weight; Grok 4.5 is not marked open weight.
Can NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B and Grok 4.5 understand images?+
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is not documented with image input; Grok 4.5 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B is — and Grok 4.5 is —.
Do NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B and Grok 4.5 support reasoning and tool use?+
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B: reasoning and tool calling. Grok 4.5: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5?+
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B has 1 sourced provider route; Grok 4.5 has 1, a tie.
Which offers better value, NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B A3B or Grok 4.5?+
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.