Granite 4.2 3B vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
Wins 2 of 6 areas
Coding · Following instructions
Wins 2 of 6 areas
Reasoning · Long documents
The two are evenly matched.Granite 4.2 3B is better at coding and following instructions; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B at reasoning and long documents.
Scores updated · 22 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking02NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B2 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B1 of 1 test
- CodingWriting and fixing software21Granite 4.2 3B2 of 3 tests
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Granite 4.2 3B1 of 1 test
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own00Even0 each · 3 ties
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up11Even1 each
Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Granite 4.2 3B costs 40% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The three tests each model wins by the widest margin. Scores are out of 100.
Where NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B pulls ahead
- Graduate-level biology, physics and chemistry questionsGPQA Diamond+19.8points ahead
- Reasons across sets of long documentsAA-LCR+13.7points ahead
- Answers hard knowledge questions correctlyAA-Omniscience · Accuracy+8.1points ahead
Where Granite 4.2 3B pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+57points ahead
- Command-line tasks in a real terminalTerminal-Bench 2.1+7.2points ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+3.2points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 22 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGranite 4.2 3B
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Granite 4.2 3B by 7.213.96.7+7.2
- SciCodeNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 5.325.330.6+5.3
- LiveCodeBench v6Granite 4.2 3B by 1.469.768.3+1.4
ReasoningNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
- GPQA DiamondNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 19.855.975.7+19.8
- Humanity's Last ExamNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 4.86.611.4+4.8
- CritPttie00.9tie
FactsEven
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGranite 4.2 3B by 5773.716.7+57
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 8.19.217.3+8.1
Long documentsNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
- AA-LCRNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 13.724.338+13.7
Following instructionsGranite 4.2 3B
- IFBenchGranite 4.2 3B by 3.274.371.1+3.2
Other results9 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceGranite 4.2 3B by 36.9-14.7-51.6+36.9
- Arena-Hard-V2NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 32.73567.7+32.7
- AIME 2025NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 20.978.399.2+20.9
- AIME25 no toolsNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 20.978.399.2+20.9
- MMLU-ProNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 10.567.878.3+10.5
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGranite 4.2 3B by 3.117.514.4+3.1
- IFBench (prompt)Granite 4.2 3B by 2.874.371.5+2.8
- BFCLv4NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B by 1.452.453.8+1.4
- AA Intelligencetie9.18.9tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Granite 4.2 3B or NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B?
Granite 4.2 3B and NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B each win two of the six areas where both have results. Granite 4.2 3B wins coding and following instructions; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B wins reasoning and long documents. Granite 4.2 3B costs 40% less. They are level on agents and facts.
Which is better for coding?
Granite 4.2 3B. It wins 2 of the 3 coding tests both models report; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B wins 1.
Which is cheaper?
Granite 4.2 3B costs $0.03 per million input tokens and $0.12 per million output tokens; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B costs $0.05 and $0.20. That makes Granite 4.2 3B about 40% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 22 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 13 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 9 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.