# Granite 4.2 30B vs Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B (slim)

> Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B scores 69.3 (B) to Granite 4.2 30B's 61 (C) for open-weight models you run yourself. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B scores 69.3 (B) on agent readiness against Granite 4.2 30B's 61 (C), and leads in 2 of 4 scored categories. Granite 4.2 30B leads on reach and documentation and upkeep. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Granite 4.2 30B: C 61, rank #65 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/granite-4-2-30b.min.md
- Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B: B 69.3, rank #9 of 160 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nemotron-3-ultra-550b-a55b.min.md
- Granite 4.2 30B, good for Agents that want a documented, signed, Apache 2.0 reasoning model with tool calling on a 24 GB card Ahead on Reach, 90 against 55; Documentation and upkeep, 87 against 70.
- Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B, good for Agents with a multi-GPU Blackwell or Hopper node, or using a hosted endpoint, that want NVIDIA's strongest open model for long agent runs Ahead on Risk, 70 against 55; Agent interface, 90 against 85.

| Category | Granite 4.2 30B | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 90 | 55 |
| Risk (20%) | 55 | 70 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 85 | 90 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 87 | 70 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Granite 4.2 30B | Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | IBM | NVIDIA |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | OpenMDW-1.1 |
| Last release | 2026-09-04 | 2026-06-04 |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.8/5 (4) |

Why the edge:
- Reach, Granite 4.2 30B +35: Granite 4.2 30B 90 (Memory 25, IBM's own 4-bit MLX build granite-4.2-30b-q4-mlx is 16.47 GB, and 16.47 GB × 1.2 = 19.8 GB, which fits 24 GB but not 16 GB.); Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 55 (Memory earns 0, because the smallest 4-bit build, NVIDIA's 352 GB NVFP4, needs about 423 GB with the fifth added, above the 256 GB band, and no runtime library…)
- Documentation and upkeep, Granite 4.2 30B +17: Granite 4.2 30B 87 (Model card 17, Intended use (best for), limitations (ethical considerations and limitations), architecture, parameters (30B), context length (128K native) and 1…); Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 70 (The model card earns 20, all seven items with limitations in the linked subcard.)
- Risk, Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B +15: Granite 4.2 30B 55 (File safety 15, safetensors only, no .bin, .pt or .pth files (25).); Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 70 (File safety earns 15, safetensors only but with 10 off because the documented commands pass trust-remote-code and the repository ships Python files.)
- Agent interface, Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B +5: Granite 4.2 30B 85 (Chat template 20, chat_template.jinja in the repository, with roles, tools, tool responses, the thinking switch and low effort.); Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55B 90 (The chat template earns 20, a Jinja file in the repository.)