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Head-to-head comparison

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs MiniCPM5 2B

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (NVIDIA) and MiniCPM5 2B (Openbmb) 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 9 September 2026

As of 9 September 2026, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#89 vs #91); and MiniCPM5 2B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Nemotron 3.5 Lightning if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #89 against #91 (44.0 vs 43.3 points).
  • you want provider choice — 2 listed API providers against 0.
  • AA Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 13.6 against 13.1.
  • AA Terminal-Bench 2.1 is your yardstick — 24.3% against 8.6%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 10.6% against 8.9%.

Choose MiniCPM5 2B if…

  • you want to self-host: MiniCPM5 2B ships open weights while Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is restricted license.
  • you want the more recently listed model — MiniCPM5 2B was listed 6 September 2026, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 11 August 2026.

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs MiniCPM5 2B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and MiniCPM5 2B
FieldNemotron 3.5 LightningNVIDIAMiniCPM5 2BOpenbmb
ModelCap Index position#89#91
Index score44.043.3
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.08Unlisted
Output price / 1M tokens$0.20Unlisted
Context window262K tokens— tokens
Max output tokens131K—
API providers listed20
Weight accessRestricted licenseOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed11 August 20266 September 2026
PublisherNVIDIAOpenbmb

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs MiniCPM5 2B

Public benchmark boards where Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or MiniCPM5 2B has a published result
BoardNemotron 3.5 LightningMiniCPM5 2BLeads
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis13.6intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecified13.1intelligence-index:v4.3:reasoning-unspecifiedNemotron 3.5 Lightning
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis24.3%terminal-bench:2.1:terminus-2:e2b:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Nemotron 3.5 Lightning":reasoning=true8.6%terminal-bench:2.1:terminus-2:e2b:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="MiniCPM5-2B":reasoning=trueNemotron 3.5 Lightning
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis10.6%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Nemotron 3.5 Lightning":reasoning=true8.9%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="MiniCPM5-2B":reasoning=trueNemotron 3.5 Lightning

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.

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs MiniCPM5 2B: common questions

Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better than MiniCPM5 2B?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 9 September 2026: #89 against #91. 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. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning cheaper than MiniCPM5 2B?

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, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or MiniCPM5 2B?

Both publish a 262K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or MiniCPM5 2B?

AA Terminal-Bench 2.1: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 24.3%, MiniCPM5 2B 8.6% — Nemotron 3.5 Lightning leads.

Are Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and MiniCPM5 2B open-weight models?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: Restricted license. MiniCPM5 2B: Open weights. 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 Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and MiniCPM5 2B?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and 0 for MiniCPM5 2B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs MiniCPM5 2B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 9 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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