Qwen3.6 27B is $0.21 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.3% lower; 1.73x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Qwen3.6 27B vs NewNemotron 3 Ultra
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra when budget and context both matter.
Page updated:
Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron 3 Ultra is estimated at $1.75 vs $1.87 for Qwen3.6 27B, saving $0.12 (6.6% lower).
Cost-first pickNemotron 3 Ultra
Context-first pickNemotron 3 Ultra
Sample savings$0.126.6%
10x traffic gap$1.23
Nemotron 3 Ultra is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.23. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Qwen3.6 27B, balanced workload favors Nemotron 3 Ultra, and output-heavy chatbot favors Nemotron 3 Ultra.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Qwen3.6 27B | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Qwen3.6 27B | $3.03 | $3.75 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Nemotron 3 Ultra | $3.46 | $3 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Nemotron 3 Ultra | $16.14 | $13 |
Nemotron 3 Ultra is $0.67 cheaper per 1M output tokens (21.1% lower; 1.27x difference).
Nemotron 3 Ultra has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
Nemotron 3 Ultra is $0.12 cheaper on the standard workload (6.6% lower).
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
Qwen3.6 27B has the lower input price; Nemotron 3 Ultra has the lower output price; Nemotron 3 Ultra offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Nemotron 3 Ultra is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.87 for Qwen3.6 27B and $1.75 for Nemotron 3 Ultra.
Choose Qwen3.6 27B when you care most about lower input-token price.
Choose Nemotron 3 Ultra when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron 3 Ultra is estimated at $1.75 vs $1.87 for Qwen3.6 27B, saving $0.12 (6.6% lower).
- Nemotron 3 Ultra is $0.12 cheaper on the standard workload (6.6% lower).
- Qwen3.6 27B is $0.21 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.3% lower; 1.73x difference).
- Nemotron 3 Ultra is $0.67 cheaper per 1M output tokens (21.1% lower; 1.27x difference).
- Nemotron 3 Ultra has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
| Feature | Qwen3.6 27B (Qwen) | NewNemotron 3 Ultra (NVIDIA) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.2885 | $0.5 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $3.17 | $2.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $1.87 | $1.75 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 1M |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #72 | #91 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Nemotron 3 Ultra | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron 3 Ultra is estimated at $1.75 vs $1.87 for Qwen3.6 27B, saving $0.12 (6.6% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Qwen3.6 27B | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Nemotron 3 Ultra | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Nemotron 3 Ultra | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen2.5 7B Instruct can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.09.
- Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 can replace Qwen3.6 27B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.14.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.25 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #3
- MiniMax M3 · MiniMax · #4
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 hubsQwen catalog
Review all tracked Qwen models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Qwen modelsNVIDIA catalog
Check other NVIDIA models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open NVIDIA modelsQwen3.6 27B is a dense 27-billion-parameter language model from the Qwen Team at Alibaba, released in April 2026. It features hybrid multimodal capabilities — accepting text, image, and video inputs...
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra is an open frontier-reasoning and orchestration model from NVIDIA, with 55B active parameters out of 550B total (MoE). Built on a hybrid Transformer-Mamba mixture-of-experts architecture, it...