Model comparison
Llama 3.2 1B vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.0 to 20.1 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 14 shared benchmarks.
Meta
NVIDIASummary
- They share 14 benchmarks with published results for both. Llama 3.2 1B scores higher in 0 categories and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads 37.5 to 7.2.
- Llama 3.2 1B is cheaper at $0.027 / $0.20 per million input/output tokens, against $0.05 / $0.20 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 60K.
Side by side
| Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meta | NVIDIA |
| Noometry Index | 20.1 | 40.0 |
| Released | 2024-09-24 | 2026-08-11 |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Context window | 60K | 262K |
| Max output | 54K | 262K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.027 | $0.05 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $0.20 | $0.20 |
| Results tracked | 22 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 21.1 (#338), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 40.4 (#141)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1070 | 1375 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 8.2% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 11.3% | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Llama 3.2 1B: 14.6 (#150), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: —
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 10.8% | — |
| BALROG | 6.6% | — |
Reasoning Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 16.2 (#308), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 26.8 (#127)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1044 | 1337 |
| Chess Puzzles | 0% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 101.99 | — |
Math Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 10.4 (#313), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#155)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1086 | 1359 |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 0.6% | — |
Knowledge Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 7.2 (#312), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#154)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1007 | 1356 |
| GPQA Diamond | 23.9% | — |
Multilingual Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 23.8 (#292), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 44.0 (#180)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 973 | 1295 |
| LMArena Chinese | 959 | 1359 |
| LMArena German | 1014 | 1282 |
| LMArena Russian | 941 | 1253 |
| LMArena French | — | 1366 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1206 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1238 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1345 |
Instruction Following Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 52.4 (#290), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 69.6 (#170)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1031 | 1318 |
Long Context Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 31.9 (#274), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.9 (#165)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1050 | 1314 |
Writing & Preference Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads
Llama 3.2 1B: 21.3 (#310), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 48.5 (#201)
| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 1B | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1055 | 1327 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1033 | 1254 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 200 | 1280 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1030 | 1328 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Llama 3.2 1B better than Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is the stronger model overall, scoring 40.0 to 20.1 on the Noometry Index.
Which is cheaper, Llama 3.2 1B or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Llama 3.2 1B is cheaper. It lists at $0.027 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning lists at $0.05 and $0.20.
Is Llama 3.2 1B or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better for coding?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.4 versus 21.1 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning does, with 262K tokens against 60K.
How many benchmarks do Llama 3.2 1B and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning share?
14 benchmarks have published results for both models. Llama 3.2 1B has 22 scored results on Noometry and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 18.