Nemotron vs Qwen
Nemotron and Qwen side by side: model sizes, the VRAM you need, context window, abilities, licence and which one to pick.
Side by side
| Nemotron | Qwen | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Open-weight models | Open-weight models |
| Developer | NVIDIA | Alibaba Cloud (Qwen team) |
| Newest model | Nemotron 3.5 Super · Oct 2026 | Qwen3.8 · Aug 2026 |
| Sizes | E4B · 30B · 120B | 0.8B · 2B · 4B · 9B · 27B · 35B · 122B |
| Smallest VRAM (4-bit) | ~9.5 GB (Nemotron 3.5 Bolt E4B) | ~2 GB (Qwen3.5 0.8B) |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 256K tokens |
| Abilities | Tool callingReasoning modeImage inputAudio input | Tool callingReasoning modeImage input |
| Licence | OpenMDW 1.1, NVIDIA Open Model License | Apache 2.0 |
| Run it | ollama run nemotron-3.5-bolt:e4b | ollama run qwen3.5:0.8b |
Which one should you pick?
- Qwen runs on smaller hardware: from ~2 GB of GPU memory, against ~9.5 GB.
- Nemotron reads longer inputs: a 1M-token context window.
- Only Nemotron has audio input.
- Qwen has the simpler licence for commercial use (Apache 2.0 or MIT).
Pick Nemotron if…
- you run NVIDIA GPUs and want models tuned for them
- you need 1M-token context in a model that fits one server
- you care about open training data
Pick Qwen if…
- you want the best model for a given amount of VRAM
- you need a permissive Apache 2.0 licence
- you want image input in small models
VRAM and download size
Ollama's default 4-bit builds with an 8K context. Read GB as system RAM on a CPU-only machine or a Mac.
Nemotron
| Model | Download | VRAM |
|---|---|---|
| Nemotron 3.5 Bolt E4B | 7.9 GB | ~9.5 GB |
| Nemotron Cascade 2 30B | 24 GB | ~27 GB |
| Nemotron 3.5 Lightning 30B | 25 GB | ~28.5 GB |
| Nemotron 3.5 Super 120B | 90 GB | ~100 GB |
Qwen
| Model | Download | VRAM |
|---|---|---|
| Qwen3.5 0.8B | 1.3 GB | ~2 GB |
| Qwen3.5 2B | 2.6 GB | ~3.5 GB |
| Qwen3.5 4B | 4.1 GB | ~5.5 GB |
| Qwen3.5 9B | 9 GB | ~10.5 GB |
| Qwen3.8 27B | 18 GB | ~20.5 GB |
| Qwen3.6 27B | 18 GB | ~20.5 GB |
| Qwen3.5 27B | 21 GB | ~24 GB |
| Qwen3.6 35B | 23 GB | ~26 GB |
| Qwen3.5 35B | 24 GB | ~27 GB |
| Qwen3.5 122B | 81 GB | ~90 GB |
Frequently asked questions
Is Nemotron better than Qwen?
It depends on the job and your hardware. Qwen runs on smaller hardware: from ~2 GB of GPU memory, against ~9.5 GB. Nemotron reads longer inputs: a 1M-token context window. Only Nemotron has audio input. For quality, test both on your own prompts: benchmark rankings change with every release.
Which needs less VRAM, Nemotron or Qwen?
Nemotron starts at ~9.5 GB (7.9 GB download). Qwen starts at ~2 GB (1.3 GB download).
Can I use Nemotron and Qwen commercially?
Nemotron: OpenMDW 1.1, NVIDIA Open Model License. Qwen: Apache 2.0. Check the exact licence of the model you deploy; custom licences can limit very large companies or certain uses.
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