Pareto 26.9 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Pareto 26.9 took 10 min 32 s and $0.34 at list price, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning took 10 min 9 s and $0.012 at list price. Both took about as long, and Pareto 26.9 cost 29× as much.
Pareto 26.9
Unbiased · $7.50/M out
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
NVIDIA · $0.20/M out · free route · 399 HN pts
Pelican
Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle
Watch
Draw a mechanical wristwatch that shows the current local time, with a sweeping seconds hand and a date window. Make it look expensive.
Landing
Build the landing page for Lumen Cycles, a Copenhagen workshop that builds custom cargo bikes to order. Make it look like a real brand you would trust with 4,000 euros.
Breakout
Make a Breakout game I can play right now with the keyboard or the mouse. Give it several levels, a score and some juice.
Logo
Design a logo for Night Heron, an independent bookshop that only opens after dark.
About
Write the opening of the About us page for Patchbay, a three-person studio in Rotterdam that repairs vintage synthesizers. About 150 words.
Patchbay is a small workshop in the heart of Rotterdam, where three people spend their days elbow-deep in the guts of vintage synthesizers. We fix the machines that made the sounds you grew up with—the ones that shaped entire genres and then got left in basements when the tech moved on. But we're not a museum. Our benches are covered in solder, schematics, and the occasional broken key that's been there for two weeks longer than we'd like to admit.
We started this studio because we got tired of seeing classic gear being stripped for parts, or worse, turned into Instagram decor. These instruments deserve better. They were built to make noise, and we want to keep them doing exactly that.
Between the three of us, we've fixed everything from a 1960s Buchla to a beat-up Juno that fell down a flight of stairs. If you've got a synth that's gone quiet, bring it in. We'll bring it back.
Patchbay is a three-person studio in Rotterdam devoted to the restoration and repair of vintage synthesizers. We believe analog gear holds a living voice, and our purpose is to safeguard that sound for musicians, collectors, and creators who value authenticity. With hands-on experience in circuitry, voltage calibration, and component preservation, we treat every console, drum machine, or modular voice with meticulous care. Rotterdam’s eclectic artistic community fuels our commitment to keeping analog heritage alive, bridging past technology with present music. Whether rescuing a neglected lab unit or reviving a cherished polysynth, we approach each instrument as a unique piece of musical history, ensuring it performs as intended for years ahead. We love helping artists reconnect with the warmth and character only vintage hardware can offer. Our workshop sits in the heart of the city, where dusty circuit boards meet fresh compositions, and every repaired synth becomes part of a new musical story.
Specs and numbers
| Pareto 26.9 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Unbiased | NVIDIA |
| Made in | — | US |
| Released | 13 Oct 2026 | 11 Aug 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $2.50 | free route (list $0.07/M) |
| Price out, per M tokens | $7.50 | free route (list $0.20/M) |
| Context | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Weights | closed | open |
| Hacker News points | — | 399 |
| Time for the six prompts | 10 min 32 s | 10 min 9 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.34 | $0.012 |
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was cheaper: $0.33 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Both took about as long in total; Pareto 26.9 was faster on 4 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play. Pareto 26.9's landing page was cut off at the output limit (12,000 tokens).