Model comparison

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B vs Step 3.5 Flash

Step 3.5 Flash is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.3 to 40.6 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs 1.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Step 3.5 Flash's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

Last verified October 10, 2026. 17 shared benchmarks.

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B

NVIDIA

40.6

Rank #147 Confirmed

Step 3.5 Flash

StepFun

42.3

Rank #116 Confirmed

Summary

They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B scores higher in 1 category and Step 3.5 Flash in 7 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Step 3.5 Flash leads 58.8 to 52.3.
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.20 per million input/output tokens, against $0.10 / $0.30 for Step 3.5 Flash.
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B accepts more context: 262K tokens versus 256K.

Side by side

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B and Step 3.5 Flash specifications
	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
Provider	NVIDIA	StepFun
Noometry Index	40.6	42.3
Released	2025-12-15	2026-01-29
Weights	Open	Open
Context window	262K	256K
Max output	262K	256K
Input $ / M tokens	$0.05	$0.10
Output $ / M tokens	$0.20	$0.30
Results tracked	18	19

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Category by category

Coding Step 3.5 Flash leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 40.5 (#138), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.4 (#105)

Coding benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Coding	1378	1436

Reasoning Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 27.1 (#124), Step 3.5 Flash: 22.2 (#202)

Reasoning benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Hard Prompts	1348	1411
NYT Connections (extended)	—	28.4%

Math Step 3.5 Flash leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 37.8 (#147), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.6 (#84)

Math benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Math	1371	1408
MathArena Final-Answer Competitions	—	66.8%

Knowledge Step 3.5 Flash leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 38.2 (#148), Step 3.5 Flash: 39.6 (#132)

Knowledge benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Expert	1355	1421
Vectara Hallucination Rate	9.6%	—

Multilingual Step 3.5 Flash leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 45.8 (#162), Step 3.5 Flash: 50.5 (#119)

Multilingual benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Non-English	1320	1385
LMArena Chinese	1382	1447
LMArena French	1396	1421
LMArena German	1348	1405
LMArena Japanese	1268	1354
LMArena Korean	1269	1352
LMArena Russian	1303	1385
LMArena Spanish	1376	1419

Instruction Following Step 3.5 Flash leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 68.8 (#180), Step 3.5 Flash: 73.1 (#124)

Instruction Following benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Instruction Following	1304	1385

Long Context Step 3.5 Flash leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 39.5 (#175), Step 3.5 Flash: 42.8 (#117)

Long Context benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Longer Query	1300	1402

Writing & Preference Step 3.5 Flash leads

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 52.3 (#174), Step 3.5 Flash: 58.8 (#113)

Writing & Preference benchmarks
Benchmark	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B	Step 3.5 Flash
LMArena Text	1348	1403
LMArena Creative Writing	1269	1357
LMArena Multi-Turn	1319	1405

Frequently asked questions

Is Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B better than Step 3.5 Flash?

Which is cheaper, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B or Step 3.5 Flash?

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; Step 3.5 Flash lists at $0.10 and $0.30.

Is Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B or Step 3.5 Flash better for coding?

Step 3.5 Flash scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 40.5 in the Noometry coding category.

Which has the bigger context window?

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B does, with 262K tokens against 256K.

How many benchmarks do Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B and Step 3.5 Flash share?

17 benchmarks have published results for both models. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has 18 scored results on Noometry and Step 3.5 Flash has 19.