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Model comparison

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs Kimi K2.6

NVIDIANemotron 3.5 Lightning
Input
$0.08
Output
$0.20
Context
1M (256K on a single H100)
Released
2026-08-11
Full model page →Moonshot AI (Kimi)Kimi K2.6
Input
$0.95 / 1M tokens
Output
$4.00 / 1M tokens
Context
256K
Released
2026-04-20
Full model page →
Short answer

Kimi K2.6 scores higher on 4 of the 4 benchmarks both models report; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper on input tokens ($0.1 vs $1 per 1M, 11.9×); Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has the larger context window (1M vs 256K).

Specs and pricing side by side

SpecNemotron 3.5 LightningKimi K2.6
MakerNVIDIAMoonshot AI (Kimi)
Released2026-08-112026-04-20
Context window1M (256K on a single H100)256K
Max outputnot published256K
Input price$0.08$0.95 / 1M tokens
Output price$0.20$4.00 / 1M tokens
Parameters30B total · 3B active (Mixture-of-Experts)1T total (MoE), 32B active per token
LicenseOpenMDW-1.1Modified MIT (open weights; "Kimi K2" UI attribution required above 100M MAU or $20M monthly revenue)
WeightsOpen weightsOpen weightssame
ModalitiesTextText, Vision, Video
Knowledge cutoffSeptember 2025 (pre-training); May 2026…not published

Benchmarks both models report

BenchmarkNemotron 3.5 LightningKimi K2.6
GPQA Diamond75.44%90.5%
SWE-bench Verified51.56%80.2%
BrowseComp36.97%86.3%
Humanity's Last Exam11.72%54%

Scores are as published by each maker or its cited source; harness, reasoning effort and date can differ between rows, so treat small gaps as ties. Sources are listed on each model page.

Which one should you pick?

Pick Nemotron 3.5 Lightning if…

  • Cost matters: input tokens cost 11.9× less ($0.1 vs $1 per 1M).
  • You need the longer context (1M vs 256K).
  • Your use case is: the execution tier of an agent stack, handling routine tool calls and sub-steps while a larger model makes the hard decisions.

Pick Kimi K2.6 if…

  • You care about GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench Verified, BrowseComp (it scores higher on 4 shared benchmarks).
  • You need Vision / Video input, which Nemotron 3.5 Lightning lacks.
  • Your use case is: autonomous, multi-step software engineering and bug-fixing over large repositories.

FAQ

Which is better, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning or Kimi K2.6?

Kimi K2.6 scores higher on 4 of the 4 benchmarks both models report; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper on input tokens ($0.1 vs $1 per 1M, 11.9×); Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has the larger context window (1M vs 256K). The better pick depends on whether you value benchmark scores, price per token, context length or openness for your workload.

How much cheaper is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: $0.08 input, $0.20 output. Kimi K2.6: $0.95 / 1M tokens input, $4.00 / 1M tokens output (list API prices as published by each maker).

What are the context windows of Nemotron 3.5 Lightning and Kimi K2.6?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning offers 1M (256K on a single H100); Kimi K2.6 offers 256K with up to 256K output.

Is Nemotron 3.5 Lightning newer than Kimi K2.6?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was released 2026-08-11; Kimi K2.6 was released 2026-04-20.

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