# Hy3 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

> Hy3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.6 to 39.3 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 2.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Hy3's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/hy3-vs-nemotron-3-5-lightning
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 15

## Summary

- They share 15 benchmarks with published results for both. Hy3 scores higher in 7 categories and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning in 1 category; 7 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Hy3 leads 62.5 to 48.5.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper at $0.06 / $0.16 per million input/output tokens, against $0.13 / $0.53 for Hy3.

## Snapshot

| | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Tencent | NVIDIA |
| Noometry Index | 43.6 | 39.3 |
| Rank | 79 | 156 |
| Context | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/M | $0.13 | $0.06 |
| Output $/M | $0.53 | $0.16 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- Hy3: 46.6 (#60)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.6 (#143)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1465 | 1370 |
| LMArena WebDev | 1509 | — |

## Reasoning

- Hy3: 25.0 (#134)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 25.7 (#128)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1449 | 1335 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 41.2% | — |

## Math

- Hy3: 37.4 (#98)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 34.7 (#156)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1475 | 1355 |

## Knowledge

- Hy3: 40.2 (#108)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 36.9 (#154)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1461 | 1354 |

## Multilingual

- Hy3: 53.7 (#60)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 44.0 (#175)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1427 | 1292 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1496 | 1356 |
| LMArena French | 1461 | 1369 |
| LMArena Korean | 1390 | 1233 |
| LMArena Russian | 1435 | 1257 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1448 | 1321 |
| LMArena German | — | 1280 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1213 |

## Instruction Following

- Hy3: 75.3 (#68)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 69.8 (#166)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1425 | 1317 |

## Long Context

- Hy3: 44.1 (#70)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.9 (#160)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1443 | 1312 |

## Writing & Preference

- Hy3: 62.5 (#75)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 48.5 (#198)

| Benchmark | Hy3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1442 | 1324 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1399 | 1254 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1436 | 1327 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | — | 1280 |

## FAQ

### Is Hy3 better than Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?

Hy3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.6 to 39.3 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 2.7× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Hy3's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Hy3 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper. It lists at $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.16 per million output tokens; Hy3 lists at $0.13 and $0.53.

### Is Hy3 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better for coding?

Hy3 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 46.6 versus 39.6 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Both accept 262K tokens.

### How many benchmarks do Hy3 and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning share?

15 benchmarks have published results for both models. Hy3 has 17 scored results on Noometry and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 18.
