Model Comparison
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) vs Qwen3 VL 8B ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is 6.3x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking — which is better?
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) (by NVIDIA) and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) outperforms in 5 benchmarks (AIME 2025, Arena-Hard v2, GPQA, LiveCodeBench v6, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU-ProX). Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is roughly 6.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Choose Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 6 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 6.3x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.18/M input and $2.09/M output
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) outperforms in 5 benchmarks (AIME 2025, Arena-Hard v2, GPQA, LiveCodeBench v6, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU-ProX).
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, Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) ($0.06/1M tokens) is 3.0x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($0.18/1M tokens).
For output processing, Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) ($0.24/1M tokens) is 8.7x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($2.09/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 23.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking, making it 255.6% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 262,144 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 262,144 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) does not.
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is licensed under NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement , while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
NVIDIA Open Model License Agreement
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) was released on 2025-12-15, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is 3 months newer than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.
Dec 15, 2025
5 months ago
2mo newerSep 22, 2025
8 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-11-28, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking'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 Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking's cutoff date.
Nov 2025
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Provider Availability
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) is available from DeepInfra. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is available from DeepInfra.
Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B)
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Nemotron 3 Nano (30B A3B) vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.