Gemini 4 Carbon vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
Google · US | NVIDIA · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Gemini 4 Carbon for ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60) or google-reported 88.2% on sec-bench pro and 54.8% on exploitgym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation. Pick NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super for high-throughput agentic reasoning (up to 2.2x gpt-oss-120b) or 1m-token context with strong long-context retrieval (91.6% ruler @ 1m). Choose NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Gemini 4 Carbon if you want a managed API.
Gemini 4 Carbon (Google) and NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super (NVIDIA) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Gemini 4 Carbon is google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet. NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super is nVIDIA's open 120B-total/12B-active hybrid Mamba-Transformer MoE built for high-throughput agentic reasoning at 1M-token context. They diverge most on price and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Cost model: NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super ships open weights you can self-host (hardware cost only, no per-token fee), while Gemini 4 Carbon is API-metered at $2/$10 per 1M tokens. Your choice depends on whether you want zero marginal cost at the price of running infrastructure.
- ▸Context window: both advertise 1M tokens (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
- ▸Recency: Gemini 4 Carbon is the newer model by about 8 months (released October 28, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Gemini 4 Carbon | NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Google (US) | NVIDIA (US) |
| Released | October 28, 2026 | March 11, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) | 1M (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $2/$10 per 1M tokens | Open weight (self-host / free) |
| Open weight? | No — API only | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text, image, audio, video, code | text, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | 60.47% |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Ranked first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 with 59 at launch (Artificial Analysis now shows 60)
Gemini 4 Carbon
Google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet — and it is the newer of the two.
Google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation
Gemini 4 Carbon
Gemini 4 Carbon lists google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation among its strengths; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super does not.
Google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching
Gemini 4 Carbon
Gemini 4 Carbon lists google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching among its strengths; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super does not.
High-throughput agentic reasoning (up to 2.2x GPT-OSS-120B)
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
NVIDIA's open 120B-total/12B-active hybrid Mamba-Transformer MoE built for high-throughput agentic reasoning at 1M-token context — and its weights are open while Gemini 4 Carbon is API-only.
1M-token context with strong long-context retrieval (91.6% RULER @ 1M)
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
Gemini 4 Carbon is comparatively weak here — google has not published context or modality specs - the 1M window and modalities shown come from Artificial Analysis and Vals
Strong math reasoning (90.21% AIME 2025)
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super lists strong math reasoning (90.21% AIME 2025) among its strengths; Gemini 4 Carbon does not.
Lowest cost at scale
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Gemini 4 Carbon's $2/$10 per 1M tokens.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Gemini 4 Carbon, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Gemini 4 Carbon is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60)
→ Gemini 4 Carbon
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is high-throughput agentic reasoning (up to 2.2x gpt-oss-120b)
→ NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
That is its strongest area.
Gemini 4 Carbon: where it fits
Google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet. Released October 28, 2026 by Google, it is built for ranked first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 with 59 at launch (Artificial Analysis now shows 60), google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation, google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching, and introductory $2/$10 per million tokens, matching Gemini 4 Argon, with cached input 95% off.
Its trade-offs are real: limited release: rolling out to a subset of cyber defenders, then trusted partners via the Fairwind Program, with no date for developers or consumers, no public API model listing yet, so most users cannot call it today, introductory pricing rises to $4/$20 afterward, and Google has not said when that happens, and google has not published context or modality specs - the 1M window and modalities shown come from Artificial Analysis and Vals. At $2 in / $10 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super: where it fits
NVIDIA's open 120B-total/12B-active hybrid Mamba-Transformer MoE built for high-throughput agentic reasoning at 1M-token context. Released March 11, 2026 by NVIDIA, it is built for high-throughput agentic reasoning (up to 2.2x GPT-OSS-120B), 1M-token context with strong long-context retrieval (91.6% RULER @ 1M), strong math reasoning (90.21% AIME 2025), and fully open weights, datasets, and recipes for self-hosting.
Its trade-offs: text-only; no image, audio, or video input, and requires roughly 8x H100-80GB GPUs to self-host at BF16. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Gemini 4 Carbon gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Gemini 4 Carbon and NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Gemini 4 Carbon or NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Gemini 4 Carbon, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Gemini 4 Carbon leans toward ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60) while NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super leans toward high-throughput agentic reasoning (up to 2.2x gpt-oss-120b), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Carbon or NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super?
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Gemini 4 Carbon is API-metered at $2/$10 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M tokens (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both Gemini 4 Carbon and NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Gemini 4 Carbon, NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Gemini 4 Carbon or NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super?
Gemini 4 Carbon — released October 28, 2026, about 8 months after NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.