Model comparison
Muse Spark 1.1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Muse Spark 1.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 49.9 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 23× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Muse Spark 1.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Last verified . 18 shared benchmarks.
Meta
NVIDIASummary
- They share 18 benchmarks with published results for both. Muse Spark 1.1 scores higher in 8 categories and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Muse Spark 1.1 leads 73.4 to 48.5.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.20 per million input/output tokens, against $1.25 / $4.25 for Muse Spark 1.1.
- Muse Spark 1.1 accepts more context: 1.05M tokens versus 262K.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meta | NVIDIA |
| Noometry Index | 49.9 | 40.0 |
| Released | 2026-04-08 | 2026-08-11 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| Context window | 1.05M | 262K |
| Max output | 131K | 262K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $1.25 | $0.05 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $4.25 | $0.20 |
| Results tracked | 37 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 51.3 (#40), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 40.4 (#141)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1498 | 1375 |
| DeepSWE | 53.3% | — |
| LMArena WebDev | 1542 | — |
| SciCode | 58.8% | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Muse Spark 1.1: 30.8 (#73), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: —
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 31.8% | — |
| τ²-bench Banking | 40.5% | — |
| GBAEval | 7.9% | — |
| GDP.pdf | 15% | — |
| Vending-Bench 2 | 6,520 | — |
Reasoning Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 47.1 (#44), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 26.8 (#127)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1486 | 1337 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 84.9% | — |
| CritPt | 15.1% | — |
| DTBench | 94.4% | — |
| LMCA | 49.9% | — |
| Surface Evolver Bench | 52.5% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 154.21 | — |
Math Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 45.5 (#76), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#155)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1483 | 1359 |
| ProofBench | 39% | — |
Knowledge Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 53.1 (#59), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#154)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1478 | 1356 |
| SimpleQA Verified | 57.8% | — |
Multimodal Not comparable
Muse Spark 1.1: 42.6 (#29), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: —
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1293 | — |
| LMArena Document | 1465 | — |
Multilingual Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 56.7 (#17), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 44.0 (#180)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1472 | 1295 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1518 | 1359 |
| LMArena French | 1494 | 1366 |
| LMArena German | 1466 | 1282 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1451 | 1206 |
| LMArena Korean | 1458 | 1238 |
| LMArena Russian | 1483 | 1253 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1464 | 1345 |
Instruction Following Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 76.5 (#39), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 69.6 (#170)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1457 | 1318 |
Long Context Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 44.8 (#58), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.9 (#165)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1462 | 1314 |
Writing & Preference Muse Spark 1.1 leads
Muse Spark 1.1: 73.4 (#11), Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 48.5 (#201)
| Benchmark | Muse Spark 1.1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1479 | 1327 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1437 | 1254 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1927 | 1280 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1485 | 1328 |
| EQ-Bench 4 | 1260 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is Muse Spark 1.1 better than Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Muse Spark 1.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 49.9 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 23× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Muse Spark 1.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Which is cheaper, Muse Spark 1.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; Muse Spark 1.1 lists at $1.25 and $4.25.
Is Muse Spark 1.1 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better for coding?
Muse Spark 1.1 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.3 versus 40.4 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Muse Spark 1.1 does, with 1.05M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks do Muse Spark 1.1 and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning share?
18 benchmarks have published results for both models. Muse Spark 1.1 has 37 scored results on Noometry and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 18.