Model comparison
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B vs Step 5 Preview
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 40.6 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 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 Nano 30B A3B scores higher in 0 categories and Step 5 Preview in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in reasoning, where Step 5 Preview leads 40.0 to 27.1.
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 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 Nano 30B A3B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | NVIDIA | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 40.6 | 47.9 |
| Released | 2025-12-15 | 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 |
Sponsored placements are available on pages like this one. Advertise on Noometry
Category by category
Coding Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 40.5 (#138), Step 5 Preview: 51.8 (#36)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1378 | 1480 |
| LMArena WebDev | — | 1564 |
| SciCode | — | 58.9% |
Reasoning Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 27.1 (#124), Step 5 Preview: 40.0 (#57)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1348 | 1465 |
| CritPt | — | 20.9% |
Math Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 37.8 (#147), Step 5 Preview: 46.1 (#72)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1371 | 1470 |
| ProofBench | — | 42% |
Knowledge Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 38.2 (#148), Step 5 Preview: 41.2 (#112)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1355 | 1470 |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 9.6% | — |
Multimodal Not comparable
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: —, Step 5 Preview: 41.0 (#41)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1267 |
Multilingual Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 45.8 (#162), Step 5 Preview: 53.8 (#54)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1320 | 1432 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1382 | 1519 |
| LMArena Russian | 1303 | 1436 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1376 | 1439 |
| LMArena French | 1396 | — |
| LMArena German | 1348 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1268 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1269 | — |
Instruction Following Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 68.8 (#180), Step 5 Preview: 76.0 (#50)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1304 | 1444 |
Long Context Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 39.5 (#175), Step 5 Preview: 44.5 (#64)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1300 | 1455 |
Writing & Preference Step 5 Preview leads
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: 52.3 (#174), Step 5 Preview: 62.8 (#71)
| Benchmark | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Step 5 Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1348 | 1442 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1269 | 1410 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1319 | 1447 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B better than Step 5 Preview?
Step 5 Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.9 to 40.6 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 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 Nano 30B A3B or Step 5 Preview?
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 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 Nano 30B A3B or Step 5 Preview better for coding?
Step 5 Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 51.8 versus 40.5 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 Nano 30B A3B and Step 5 Preview share?
13 benchmarks have published results for both models. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has 18 scored results on Noometry and Step 5 Preview has 18.