Model Comparison
Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B
vs. Step 3.5 Flash
Comparing 2 AI models · 7 benchmarks · NVIDIA, StepFun
Recommended Pick
St Step 3.5 Flash 10 metric wins Strongest on: Throughput, Reasoning, Intelligence
Lowest Price
Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B
$0.00/1M input price
Best Reasoning
Step 3.5 Flash
46.7 reasoning score
Blends available reasoning benchmarks
Best for Coding
Step 3.5 Flash
31.6 coding index
Composite Indices
Higher is better; speed and price are normalized
Standard Benchmarks
Only benchmarks with data are shown
Differences That Matter
Price gap
Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B is ∞x cheaper on input tokens than Step 3.5 Flash.
Reasoning gap
Step 3.5 Flash leads Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B by 8.1 points on reasoning.
Coding gap
Step 3.5 Flash leads Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B by 5.8 points on coding.
Top-pick rationale
Step 3.5 Flash wins 10 measurable categories, including Throughput, Reasoning, Intelligence, Coding.
Response Face-Off
Run one prompt through the selected models and compare response quality with live speed and cost context.
Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B
NVIDIA
TTFT
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Time
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tok/s
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Tokens
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Cost
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Step 3.5 Flash
StepFun
TTFT
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Time
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tok/s
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Tokens
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Cost
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Which answer was more useful?
Full Comparison
| Metric | NV Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B | Top Pick St Step 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing per 1M tokens | ||
| Input Cost | $0.00/1M | $0.10/1M |
| Output Cost | $0.00/1M | $0.30/1M |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $0.15/1M |
| Specifications | ||
| Organization | NVIDIA | StepFun |
| Release Date | Mar 19, 2026 | Feb 2, 2026 |
| Performance & Speed | ||
| Throughput | — | 162.1 tok/s |
| TTFT | — | 8068ms |
| Latency | — | 20408ms |
| Composite Indices | ||
| Value Score | — | 100.0 |
| Reasoning Score | 38.5 | 46.7 |
| Intelligence | 28.4 | 37.8 |
| Coding | 25.8 | 31.6 |
| Standard Benchmarks | ||
| GPQA | 75.8% | 83.1% |
| HLE | 11.4% | 19.1% |
| SciCode | 34.8% | 40.4% |
| LCR | 34.0% | 43.0% |
| IFBench | 80.4% | 64.6% |
| TAU-bench v2 | 53.2% | 94.4% |
| TerminalBench Hard | 21.2% | 27.3% |
Key Takeaways
Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B offers the best value at $0.00/1M, making it ideal for high-volume applications and cost-conscious projects.
Step 3.5 Flash has the strongest reasoning profile with a 46.7 reasoning score, combining the available reasoning-heavy benchmarks.
Step 3.5 Flash reaches a 31.6 coding index, making it the top choice for software development and code generation tasks.
All models support context windows of ∞+ tokens, suitable for processing lengthy documents and maintaining extended conversations.
When to Choose Each Model
Nemotron Cascade 2 30B A3B
- Cost-sensitive applications
- High-volume processing
Step 3.5 Flash
- Complex reasoning tasks
- Research & analysis
- Code generation
- Software development
