Grok Code Fast 1 vs NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super

xAI · US  |  NVIDIA · US · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Pick Grok Code Fast 1 for fast, cheap agentic coding at $0.20/$1.50 or low-latency code generation and terminal tasks. 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; Grok Code Fast 1 if you want a managed API.

Grok Code Fast 1 (xAI) and NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super (NVIDIA) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Grok Code Fast 1 is xAI's speed-tier coding model at $0.20/$1.50 with a 256K window — cheap, fast agentic code over frontier quality. 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, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecGrok Code Fast 1NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super
ProviderxAI (US) NVIDIA (US)
ReleasedAugust 28, 2025 March 11, 2026
Context window256K (~384 pages) 1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)$0.2/$1.5 per 1M tokens Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight?No — API only Yes — self-hostable
Modalitiestext, code text, code
SWE-Bench VerifiedNot published 60.47%
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published Not published

Who wins what

Fast, cheap agentic coding at $0.20/$1.50

Grok Code Fast 1

Grok Code Fast 1 lists fast, cheap agentic coding at $0.20/$1.50 among its strengths; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super does not.

Low-latency code generation and terminal tasks

Grok Code Fast 1

Grok Code Fast 1 lists low-latency code generation and terminal tasks among its strengths; NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super does not.

High-volume coding pipelines where speed beats peak quality

Grok Code Fast 1

Grok Code Fast 1 lists high-volume coding pipelines where speed beats peak quality 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 it carries the larger 1M context.

1M-token context with strong long-context retrieval (91.6% RULER @ 1M)

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super

Its 1M window holds about 3.9× more than Grok Code Fast 1's 256K in a single prompt.

Strong math reasoning (90.21% AIME 2025)

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 Grok Code Fast 1 is API-only.

Lowest cost at scale

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super

Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Grok Code Fast 1's $0.2/$1.5 per 1M tokens.

Largest single-prompt input

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super

Its 1M window is about 3.9× larger than Grok Code Fast 1's 256K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.

Which should you pick?

A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super

At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Grok Code Fast 1, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super

Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.

A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super

Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Grok Code Fast 1 is API-only.

Anyone whose priority is fast, cheap agentic coding at $0.20/$1.50

Grok Code Fast 1

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.

Grok Code Fast 1: where it fits

XAI's speed-tier coding model at $0.20/$1.50 with a 256K window — cheap, fast agentic code over frontier quality. Released August 28, 2025 by xAI, it is built for fast, cheap agentic coding at $0.20/$1.50, low-latency code generation and terminal tasks, high-volume coding pipelines where speed beats peak quality, and a 256K window sized for real codebases.

Its trade-offs are real: text and code only — no image, audio or video input, xAI did not publish a SWE-Bench Verified score, a speed-tier coding model, not a frontier reasoner, and narrow focus — built for code, not general knowledge work. At $0.2 in / $1.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget 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. Grok Code Fast 1 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 Grok Code Fast 1 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 pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is Grok Code Fast 1 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super better for coding?

Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Grok Code Fast 1, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Grok Code Fast 1 leans toward fast, cheap agentic coding at $0.20/$1.50 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, Grok Code Fast 1 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 Grok Code Fast 1 is API-metered at $0.2/$1.5 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?

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super — 1M vs 256K, about 3.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.

Can I use both Grok Code Fast 1 and NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super together?

Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Grok Code Fast 1, 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, Grok Code Fast 1 or NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super?

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Super — released March 11, 2026, about 7 months after Grok Code Fast 1.

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.