Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is $0.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B vs Ministral 3 3B 2512
The standard workload cost is tied; choose by context window, provider fit, latency, or model quality.
Pricing data updated:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
The standard workload cost is tied; choose by context window, provider fit, latency, or model quality.
Both models are estimated at $0.15 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Cost-first pickTie
Context-first pickNemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B
Sample savings$00%
10x traffic gap$0
Context-window winner: Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B. Cost does not separate this pair on the standard workload, so the next decision point is context window and model behavior.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B, balanced workload favors Ministral 3 3B 2512, and output-heavy chatbot favors Ministral 3 3B 2512.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Ministral 3 3B 2512 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | $0.35 | $0.55 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | $0.25 | $0.2 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | $1.05 | $0.6 |
Ministral 3 3B 2512 is $0.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
Both models have the same estimated cost for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload: $0.15.
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has the lower input price; Ministral 3 3B 2512 has the lower output price; Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, the standard workload cost is tied.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.15 for Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B and $0.15 for Ministral 3 3B 2512.
Choose Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.
Choose Ministral 3 3B 2512 when you care most about lower output-token price.
- Both models are estimated at $0.15 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
- Both models have the same estimated cost for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload: $0.15.
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is $0.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
- Ministral 3 3B 2512 is $0.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B has 131.07K more context (2x larger).
| Feature | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B (NVIDIA) | Ministral 3 3B 2512 (Mistral) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.05 | $0.1 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0.2 | $0.1 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 131.07K |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Tie | Both models are estimated at $0.15 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload. |
| High-volume input processing | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Nemotron 3 Nano Omni (free) can replace Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Nemotron 3 Super (free) can replace Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B (free) can replace Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) can replace Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- Lyria 3 Pro Preview offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- Lyria 3 Clip Preview offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- No popular competitor is currently available.
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.
Open largest context modelsProvider catalogs
Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.
Open provider hubsNVIDIA catalog
Review all tracked NVIDIA models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open NVIDIA modelsMistral catalog
Check other Mistral models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Mistral modelsNVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B is a small language MoE model with highest compute efficiency and accuracy for developers to build specialized agentic AI systems. The model is fully...
The smallest model in the Ministral 3 family, Ministral 3 3B is a powerful, efficient tiny language model with vision capabilities.