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granite 4.2 3b vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B

granite 4.2 3b (IBM Granite) and Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B (NVIDIA) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 3 September 2026

As of 3 September 2026, granite 4.2 3b holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#178 vs #179); Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens); and granite 4.2 3b ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose granite 4.2 3b if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #178 against #179 (18.5 vs 17.5 points).
  • you want to self-host: granite 4.2 3b ships open weights while Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is restricted license.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1380 against 1361.
  • AA Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 14.3 against 7.2.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 6.6% against 4.6%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — granite 4.2 3b was listed 7 August 2026, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 14 December 2025.

Choose Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B if…

  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want provider choice — 4 listed API providers against 0.

granite 4.2 3b vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of granite 4.2 3b and Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
Fieldgranite 4.2 3bIBM GraniteNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BNVIDIA
ModelCap Index position#178#179
Index score18.517.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.05
Output price / 1M tokensUnlisted$0.20
Context window131K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens—236K
API providers listed04
Weight accessOpen weightsRestricted license
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed7 August 202614 December 2025
PublisherIBM GraniteNVIDIA

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: granite 4.2 3b vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B

Public benchmark boards where granite 4.2 3b or Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has a published result
Boardgranite 4.2 3bNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13801357–140213611350–1371BF16granite 4.2 3b
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis14.3intelligence-index7.2intelligence-indexgranite 4.2 3b
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis13.9%terminal-bench-2.1—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—25.4%tau2-bench-telecomOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis6.6%humanitys-last-exam4.6%humanitys-last-examgranite 4.2 3b

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

granite 4.2 3b vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: common questions

Is granite 4.2 3b better than Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?

granite 4.2 3b ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 3 September 2026: #178 against #179. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is granite 4.2 3b cheaper than Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?

At least one of the two has no listed API price on ModelCap right now, so no price comparison is made.

Which has the bigger context window, granite 4.2 3b or Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?

Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, granite 4.2 3b or Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?

Arena coding: granite 4.2 3b 1380, Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B 1361 — granite 4.2 3b leads.

Are granite 4.2 3b and Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B open-weight models?

granite 4.2 3b: Open weights. Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B: Restricted license. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run granite 4.2 3b and Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?

ModelCap currently lists 0 API providers for granite 4.2 3b and 4 for Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this granite 4.2 3b vs Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 3 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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