Model Comparison

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs Nemotron Nano 9B v2Which is better in 2026?

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs Nemotron Nano 9B v2 — which is better?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B (by DeepSeek) and Nemotron Nano 9B v2 (by NVIDIA) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MATH-500). Nemotron Nano 9B v2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B if…

  • you are already invested in the DeepSeek ecosystem

Choose Nemotron Nano 9B v2 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2025
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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MATH-500).

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 13 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

870.0M diff

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 has 0.9B more parameters than DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B, making it 10.8% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
8.0Bparameters
NVIDIA
Nemotron Nano 9B v2
8.9Bparameters
8.0B
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
8.9B
Nemotron Nano 9B v2

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is licensed under MIT, while Nemotron Nano 9B v2 uses NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement .

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

MIT

Open weights

Nemotron Nano 9B v2

NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B was released on 2025-01-20, while Nemotron Nano 9B v2 was released on 2025-08-18.

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is 7 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

Jan 20, 2025

1.4 years ago

Nemotron Nano 9B v2

Aug 18, 2025

9 months ago

7mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-09-01, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Nemotron Nano 9B v2's training data extends to 2024-09-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B's cutoff date.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B

—

Nemotron Nano 9B v2

Sep 2024

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

DeepSeek

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

NVIDIA
Higher GPQA score (64.0% vs 49.0%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (71.1% vs 39.6%)
Higher MATH-500 score (97.8% vs 89.1%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B
NVIDIA
Nemotron Nano 9B v2

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B vs Nemotron Nano 9B v2.

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B or Nemotron Nano 9B v2?

Nemotron Nano 9B v2 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is made by DeepSeek and Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is made by NVIDIA. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B compare to Nemotron Nano 9B v2 in benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B scores MATH-500: 89.1%, AIME 2024: 80.0%, GPQA: 49.0%, LiveCodeBench: 39.6%. Nemotron Nano 9B v2 scores MATH-500: 97.8%, IFEval: 90.3%, AIME 2025: 72.1%, LiveCodeBench: 71.1%, BFCL_v3_MultiTurn: 66.9%.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and Nemotron Nano 9B v2?

Key differences include licensing (MIT vs NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement ). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B and Nemotron Nano 9B v2?

DeepSeek R1 Distill Llama 8B is developed by DeepSeek and Nemotron Nano 9B v2 is developed by NVIDIA.

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