GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) by OpenAI or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning by NVIDIA? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) scores 7.8 points higher (20.7 vs 12.9) but costs 3.6× as much to run the benchmark ($331 vs $92.8; both mid-range class). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 12.9, and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning when 12.9 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.7 | 12.9 | −37.7% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 37.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $331.24 | $92.76 | −72.0% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 72.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 93.46s | 8.97s | −90.4% Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is 90.4% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.25 | $0.06 / $0.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning vs GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh): 37.7% less intelligence, 72.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 90.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) scores 34.60 for $66.8.
GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh)Nemotron 3.5 LightningToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/nemotron-3-5-lightning · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/nemotron-3-5-lightning?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill