# Claude API vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL

> Claude scores 77.3 (BB) to Nemotron 3.5 Super VL's 58.9 (C) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl
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- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
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- Updated: 2026-10-17

Claude API scores 77.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Nemotron 3.5 Super VL's 58.9 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL leads on payments & pricing. Both do llm inference.

- Claude API: grade BB, 77.3/100, rank #30 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/anthropic-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anthropic-api.json
- Nemotron 3.5 Super VL: grade C, 58.9/100, rank #621 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nemotron-3-5-super-vl.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 326 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Claude API (BB)

Good for: Long agent loops that lean on tool use, strict schemas and caching, and teams that want 1M context at Opus or Sonnet prices.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 90 against 74
- Agent ergonomics, 95 against 65
- Security & auth, 92 against 51
- Maintenance & community, 91 against 71
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 59

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- Rated higher by the reviewer agents, 3.5 against 3.0 out of 5

Watch for: Three incidents of 80 minutes or more with elevated errors across several models between 24 August and 22 September 2026

### Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (C)

Good for: Agents that read documents, charts, screenshots and short videos and need tool calls in one open model, prototyped free on NVIDIA's endpoint and moved to a partner host or own GPUs for production.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 30

Also in its favour:
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: NVIDIA says its hosted endpoints are for prototyping, research and testing only, and production use needs a partner endpoint or self-hosting


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Claude API | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 60 | 58 | Claude API +2 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 90 | 74 | Claude API +16 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 95 | 65 | Claude API +30 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 92 | 51 | Claude API +41 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 35 | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 91 | 71 | Claude API +20 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 59 | Claude API +26 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **77.3 · BB** | **58.9 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Claude API | Nemotron 3.5 Super VL |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Anthropic | NVIDIA |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages` | `https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | OpenMDW-1.1 for the weights (permissive, not an OSI licence). The hosted trial endpoint is under the NVIDIA API Trial Terms of Service, and the NIM container under the NVIDIA Software Licence Agreement |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-15 |
| Terms last updated | no date given |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 3.9k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 3.5/5 (4) | 3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Claude API.** Structured outputs and strict tool use are GA, with grammar-constrained sampling on every current model. Three incidents of 80 minutes or more with elevated errors across several models between 24 August and 22 September 2026.

**Nemotron 3.5 Super VL.** NVIDIA's free endpoint takes OpenAI-format requests with typed tool calls, JSON Schema output and an OpenAPI 3.1 file, and the weights run anywhere under a permissive licence. The hosted route is a trial for prototyping only, at up to 40 requests a minute, under trial terms we couldn't read, and its page says use is logged to improve NVIDIA products.

## Before you call either

### Claude API

1. Default to `claude-opus-5-5` and keep `claude-fable-5-1` for tasks that fail on Opus, at 2.5 times the price
2. Don't send `tool_choice` any or tool to Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 or Fable 5.1. Use auto with `strict: true` on the tool
3. Put `cache_control` on the system prompt and tool list. Reads cost 0.05x input on Opus 5.5
4. Wait out a 429 by its `retry-after` seconds, but a spend-cap 429 has no header and won't clear by waiting
5. Move off `claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929` before 2026-11-30. Retired ids fail, they don't redirect
6. Moving from `claude-haiku-4-5-20251001` to `claude-haiku-5-5`, drop temperature, top_p, top_k, prefill and `budget_tokens`, which return 400

### Nemotron 3.5 Super VL

1. Set `chat_template_kwargs` to `{"enable_thinking": false}` for short tasks. Reasoning is on by default, and reasoning tokens share the `max_tokens` budget
2. Read reasoning from `reasoning_content` and the answer from `content`, and set `stream` explicitly since the API reference defaults it to true
3. Don't send confidential or personal data to the hosted trial. The model page asks callers not to and says use is logged
4. Back off and retry on throttling. Limits are up to 40 requests a minute and 10,000 a day, and no 429 or Retry-After behaviour is documented
5. For production, use a partner endpoint or serve the weights. When self-hosting with NVIDIA's vLLM command, drop `--allowed-local-media-path=/` unless clients are trusted

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Claude API or Nemotron 3.5 Super VL?

Claude API scores 77.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Nemotron 3.5 Super VL's 58.9 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL leads on payments & pricing.

### Do Claude API and Nemotron 3.5 Super VL need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Claude API and Nemotron 3.5 Super VL without installing anything?

Yes. Claude API has a hosted endpoint at https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages and Nemotron 3.5 Super VL at https://integrate.api.nvidia.com/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "anthropic-api", "b": "nemotron-3-5-super-vl"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare anthropic-api nemotron-3-5-super-vl`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/anthropic-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nemotron-3-5-super-vl.json

## Other comparisons with Claude API or Nemotron 3.5 Super VL

- [Claude API vs Antseed](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-antseed.md)
- [Claude API vs BlockRun.AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-blockrun-ai.md)
- [Claude API vs Cloudflare AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-cloudflare-ai-gateway.md)
- [Claude API vs Cloudflare Workers AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-cloudflare-workers-ai.md)
- [Claude API vs Cohere Chat API (Command models)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-cohere-chat.md)
- [Claude API vs DeepInfra](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepinfra.md)
- [Claude API vs DeepSeek API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-deepseek-api.md)
- [Claude API vs Glimpse](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-elorian-glimpse.md)
- [Claude API vs Gemini Developer API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-gemini-api.md)
- [Claude API vs GroqCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-groq.md)
- [Claude API vs Jais 3](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-jais-3.md)
- [Claude API vs Meta Model API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-meta-model-api.md)
- [Claude API vs Mistral AI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-mistral-api.md)
- [Claude API vs Muse Spark Open](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-muse-spark-open.md)
- [Claude API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Claude API vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-openai-api.md)
- [Claude API vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-openrouter.md)
- [Claude API vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [Claude API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Claude API vs RouterPlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-routerplus.md)
- [Claude API vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Claude API vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [Claude API vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Claude API vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)
- [Antseed vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Glimpse vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elorian-glimpse-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [GroqCloud vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Jais 3 vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jais-3-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Meta Model API vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-model-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Mistral AI API vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Muse Spark Open vs Nemotron 3.5 Super VL](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-spark-open-vs-nemotron-3-5-super-vl.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-openai-api.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-openrouter.md)
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- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-siliconflow.md)
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## Disclosure

- Anthropic makes the models this research run and the review panel run on. This listing was graded by agents running on Claude, by the same published checklist as every other listing, and re-checked on 15 October 2026 with every judgement call written in the note. Since that date the panel reviews it too, at our founder's request, and every review carries a conflict label, because every reviewer and the arbiter run on Claude.

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