Model comparison
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 16× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Last verified . 13 shared benchmarks.
NVIDIA
StepFunSummary
- They share 13 benchmarks with published results for both. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning scores higher in 0 categories and Step 5 Preview in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Step 5 Preview leads 62.8 to 48.5.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.20 per million input/output tokens, against $1 / $2.70 for Step 5 Preview.
- Step 5 Preview accepts more context: 1.02M tokens versus 262K.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | NVIDIA | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 40.0 | 47.9 |
| Released | 2026-08-11 | 2026-09-16 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | 262K | 1.02M |
| Max output | 262K | 66K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $0.05 | $1 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $0.20 | $2.70 |
| Results tracked | 18 | 18 |
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Category by category
Coding Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 40.4 (#141), Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1375 | 1480 |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1564 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
Reasoning Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 26.8 (#127), Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1337 | 1465 |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
Math Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#155), Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1359 | 1470 |
| ProofBench | — | 42% |
Knowledge Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#154), Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1356 | 1470 |
Multimodal Not comparable
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: —, Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1267 |
Multilingual Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 44.0 (#180), Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1295 | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1359 | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | 1253 | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1345 | 1439 |
| LMArena French | 1366 | — |
| LMArena German | 1282 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1206 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1238 | — |
Instruction Following Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 69.6 (#170), Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1318 | 1444 |
Long Context Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.9 (#165), Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1314 | 1455 |
Writing & Preference Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 48.5 (#201), Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1327 | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1254 | 1410 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1328 | 1447 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1280 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better than Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 16× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 5 Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Step 5 Preview?
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; Step 5 Preview lists at $1 and $2.70.
Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 40.4 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Step 5 Preview does, with 1.02M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks do Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and Step 5 Preview share?
13 benchmarks have published results for both models. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 18 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.