Model Comparison
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) vs Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)Which is better in 2026?
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is 1.9x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) vs Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) — which is better?
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) (by Mistral AI) and Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) (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.
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA). Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is roughly 1.9x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.20/M input and $0.20/M output
Choose Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.9x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) ($0.20/1M tokens) is 3.3x more expensive than Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) ($0.06/1M tokens).
For output processing, Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) ($0.20/1M tokens) is 1.2x cheaper than Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) ($0.24/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) is more expensive than Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B).*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) has 18.0B more parameters than Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512), making it 128.6% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512)'s 262,100 tokens. Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) is limited to 262,100 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) does not.
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512)
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)
License
Usage and distribution terms
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) uses NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement .
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04, while Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) was released on 2025-12-15.
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is 0 month newer than Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512).
Dec 4, 2025
6 months ago
Dec 15, 2025
6 months ago
1w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-11-28, while Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512)'s cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)'s training data extends to 2025-11-28, but cannot make a direct comparison without Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512)'s cutoff date.
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Nov 2025
Provider Availability
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) is available from Mistral AI. Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is available from DeepInfra.
Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512)
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Ministral 3 (14B Reasoning 2512) vs Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B).