Nemotron 3 Ultra is $1.38 cheaper per 1M input tokens (68.8% lower; 3.2x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
NewFugu Max vs Nemotron 3 Ultra
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra for lower cost; pick Fugu Max only if the larger context window matters more.
Budget verdict
Pick Nemotron 3 Ultra for lower cost; pick Fugu Max only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron 3 Ultra is estimated at $2.19 vs $5 for Fugu Max, saving $2.81 (56.2% lower).
Fugu Max has more context, but Nemotron 3 Ultra saves $2.81 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $28.12. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Nemotron 3 Ultra stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Fugu Max | Nemotron 3 Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Nemotron 3 Ultra | $13 | $4.69 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Nemotron 3 Ultra | $8 | $3.75 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Nemotron 3 Ultra | $32 | $16.25 |
Nemotron 3 Ultra is $2.88 cheaper per 1M output tokens (47.9% lower; 1.92x difference).
Fugu Max has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
Nemotron 3 Ultra is $2.81 cheaper on the standard workload (56.2% 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
Nemotron 3 Ultra has the lower input price; Nemotron 3 Ultra has the lower output price; Fugu Max 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 $5 for Fugu Max and $2.19 for Nemotron 3 Ultra.
Choose Fugu Max when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Nemotron 3 Ultra when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron 3 Ultra is estimated at $2.19 vs $5 for Fugu Max, saving $2.81 (56.2% lower).
- Nemotron 3 Ultra is $2.81 cheaper on the standard workload (56.2% lower).
- Nemotron 3 Ultra is $1.38 cheaper per 1M input tokens (68.8% lower; 3.2x difference).
- Nemotron 3 Ultra is $2.88 cheaper per 1M output tokens (47.9% lower; 1.92x difference).
- Fugu Max has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
| Feature | NewFugu Max (Sakana) | Nemotron 3 Ultra (NVIDIA) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $2 | $0.625 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $6 | $3.125 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $5 | $2.19 |
| Context Window | 1M | 262.14K |
| Release Date |
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 $2.19 vs $5 for Fugu Max, saving $2.81 (56.2% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Nemotron 3 Ultra | 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 | Fugu Max | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Sakana Namazu can replace Fugu Max when lower sample workload cost matters most: $2.95.
- Nemotron 3 Ultra (free) can replace Nemotron 3 Ultra when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) can replace Nemotron 3 Ultra when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Nemotron 3.5 Content Safety (free) can replace Nemotron 3 Ultra when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- GLM 5.3 Flash offers 1.31M context with $0.4 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.08 sample workload cost.
- Hy4 preview · Tencent · #1
- GPT-5.6 Luna · OpenAI · #2
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #3
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #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 hubsSakana catalog
Review all tracked Sakana models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Sakana modelsNVIDIA catalog
Check other NVIDIA models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open NVIDIA modelsFugu Max is the cost-performance model in Sakana AI's Fugu family. Rather than a single monolithic model, Fugu is a learned multi-agent orchestration system: a language model trained to route...
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...