Side-by-side comparison of pricing, 12 benchmarks, and generation speed.
| Metric | Solar Pro 3 | NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning) |
|---|---|---|
| Input ($/M tokens) | $0.15 | $0.2 |
| Output ($/M tokens) | $0.6 | $0.6 |
Verdict. Solar Pro 3 wins the overall benchmark matchup 2–0 across 2 overlapping categories, but raw benchmark score is only one input to the decision.
Pricing. Both models sit in the budget bracket for output-token pricing. At 1.0× the per-million-token cost, NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning) is meaningfully cheaper if your traffic is output-heavy (long completions, document generation, agent loops). NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning) makes more sense when output volume is low and absolute reasoning quality justifies the premium.
Strengths. Solar Pro 3 is strongest on Coding Index (16.2), Intelligence Index (7.8). NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning) leads on Intelligence Index (7.5).
Speed. Throughput is comparable — 155 tok/s vs 137 tok/s — so generation speed shouldn't drive your choice here. Look at the per-benchmark wins instead.
Provider. Upstage and NVIDIA sell to overlapping but distinct developer audiences: Upstage tends to ship frontier reasoning models with premium positioning, while NVIDIA often prices more aggressively. Your existing vendor relationships, billing, and SLA preferences may matter as much as the raw numbers above.
Workload cost. Workload scenarios (per million requests at 30M input + 15M output tokens): Solar Pro 3 costs $13.50 ($162/year); NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning) costs $15.00 ($180/year). At a smaller 5M-input/2M-output scale (single-developer tool or prototype): Solar Pro 3 ≈ $1.95/run, NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning) ≈ $2.20/run. At agent/realtime scale (200M input / 100M output per million requests): Solar Pro 3 ≈ $90/run, NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning) ≈ $100/run. Solar Pro 3 becomes more attractive at higher volume — the absolute per-token pricing difference compounds when you ship at scale.
Recommendation. Both models have legitimate use cases — the right answer depends on whether you are optimizing for benchmark ceiling, latency, or unit cost. Start with the cheaper / faster model, evaluate against your specific task, and only switch if the upgrade shows a meaningful lift.
Data from Artificial Analysis API — 12 benchmarks
Solar Pro 3 is cheaper overall. Its blended price (3:1 input/output ratio) is $0.26/M tokens vs $0.30/M for NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning).
Solar Pro 3 wins 2 out of 12 benchmarks compared to 0 for NVIDIA Nemotron Nano 12B v2 VL (Reasoning). See the detailed benchmark chart above for per-category results.
Solar Pro 3 generates tokens faster at 155 tok/s vs 137 tok/s. Solar Pro 3 also has lower time-to-first-token (2.48s vs 3.82s).
Choose based on your priorities: Solar Pro 3 for lower cost, Solar Pro 3 for stronger benchmark performance, and Solar Pro 3 for faster generation. For latency-sensitive apps, check the TTFT comparison above.