---
type: "post"
id: "nemotron-3-5-lightning-is-free-on-ai-eb8db3"
slug: "nemotron-3-5-lightning-is-free-on-ai-eb8db3"
title: "Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is free on AI Gateway with @NVIDIAAI."
description: "**Thesis:** Free access through a shared gateway lowers the friction of trying a model, but not the burden of deciding whether its data handling and task performance are acceptable."
retrieval_nugget: "**Thesis:** Free access through a shared gateway lowers the friction of trying a model, but not the burden of deciding whether its data handling and task performance are acceptable."
published_at: "2026-10-14"
updated_at: "2026-10-14"
record_date: "2026-10-14"
date_kind: "published_at"
topics: ["models","model-routing","pricing"]
source_urls: ["https://vercel.com/changelog/nemotron-3-5-lightning-now-available-on-ai-gateway-for-free"]
schema_version: "newruntime-agent-readable-v0.2"
stable_id: "post:nemotron-3-5-lightning-is-free-on-ai-eb8db3"
status: "published"
visuals: []
editorial_provenance: {"schema_version":"newruntime-editorial-copy-v1","content_status":"source_grounded_final","final_copy_sha256":"sha256:03db10b1a4811174a939f5ddf9fb80fe4c3c039df88c6bf33f8e322ae71794dc","reviewed_at":"2026-10-14T19:06:51.784Z","source_evidence_count":1,"verified_claim_count":2,"site_analysis_schema_version":"newruntime-site-analysis-v1","site_object_kind":"field_note","observed_fact_count":2,"implication_count":1,"watch_condition_count":1,"related_record_count":0}
analysis: {"schema_version":"newruntime-site-analysis-v1","object_kind":"field_note","thesis":"Free access through a shared gateway lowers the friction of trying a model, but not the burden of deciding whether its data handling and task performance are acceptable.","observed_facts":[{"text":"Vercel’s changelog says Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is available at no charge on AI Gateway under `nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-free`, served by NVIDIA.","source_urls":["https://vercel.com/changelog/nemotron-3-5-lightning-now-available-on-ai-gateway-for-free"]},{"text":"The same source lists a 1M-token context window, tool calling, structured outputs, and warns that the provider may retain prompts for model improvement.","source_urls":["https://vercel.com/changelog/nemotron-3-5-lightning-now-available-on-ai-gateway-for-free"]}],"mechanism":"The gateway makes the model selectable through familiar APIs and connected coding agents, so an existing integration can test it without adopting a separate serving path. The price change reduces the cost of that trial; it does not remove the need to inspect the provider’s data terms or validate outputs on representative work.","why_now":"A free route makes experimentation easier now, while the explicit retention note makes data governance part of the decision rather than an afterthought.","implications":["Teams can run a bounded evaluation through their existing gateway, using non-sensitive inputs until they have checked applicable retention terms and measured task quality."],"evidence_boundary":"The supplied Vercel changelog establishes availability, interface options, listed capabilities, and a prompt-retention caveat. It provides no independent benchmark, usage limits, service-level guarantee, or evidence that access is free outside AI Gateway.","watch_conditions":["Watch for published usage limits or changes to prompt-retention terms, and compare task quality on a controlled workload before routing production traffic."],"related_records":[],"new_branch_reason":"No prior New Runtime record was supplied for this specific gateway access and pricing change; this begins a distinct analytical record."}
editor: {"role":"editor","name":"Andrey Reshetnikov","profile":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md","profile_json":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json","same_as":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/reshetnikov1/","https://t.me/lapetuse"]}
routes: {"html":"https://newruntime.com/posts/nemotron-3-5-lightning-is-free-on-ai-eb8db3/","markdown":"https://newruntime.com/posts/nemotron-3-5-lightning-is-free-on-ai-eb8db3.md","json":"https://newruntime.com/posts/nemotron-3-5-lightning-is-free-on-ai-eb8db3.json"}
---

# Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is free on AI Gateway with @NVIDIAAI.

## Retrieval answer

**Thesis:** Free access through a shared gateway lowers the friction of trying a model, but not the burden of deciding whether its data handling and task performance are acceptable.

**Thesis:** Free access through a shared gateway lowers the friction of trying a model, but not the burden of deciding whether its data handling and task performance are acceptable.

**Observed facts:** Vercel’s changelog says Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is available at no charge on AI Gateway under `nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning-free`, served by NVIDIA. **Observed facts:** The same source lists a 1M-token context window, tool calling, structured outputs, and warns that the provider may retain prompts for model improvement.

**Mechanism:** The gateway makes the model selectable through familiar APIs and connected coding agents, so an existing integration can test it without adopting a separate serving path. The price change reduces the cost of that trial; it does not remove the need to inspect the provider’s data terms or validate outputs on representative work.

**Why now:** A free route makes experimentation easier now, while the explicit retention note makes data governance part of the decision rather than an afterthought.

**First implication:** Teams can run a bounded evaluation through their existing gateway, using non-sensitive inputs until they have checked applicable retention terms and measured task quality.

**Evidence boundary:** The supplied Vercel changelog establishes availability, interface options, listed capabilities, and a prompt-retention caveat. It provides no independent benchmark, usage limits, service-level guarantee, or evidence that access is free outside AI Gateway.

**First watch condition:** Watch for published usage limits or changes to prompt-retention terms, and compare task quality on a controlled workload before routing production traffic.

This is a new analytical record because no prior New Runtime record was supplied for this specific gateway access and pricing change.

Editor: [Andrey Reshetnikov](https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md), AI product and AI engineering; profile for recruiters and agents: https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json

## Continue in the graph

Next records for an agent, linked to their Markdown twins. Replace `.md` with `.json` for structured fields, including `next_reads`.

- topic hub: [Models](https://newruntime.com/topics/models.md): Explore the models topic hub.
- topic hub: [Model Routing](https://newruntime.com/topics/model-routing.md): Explore the model-routing topic hub.
- topic hub: [Pricing](https://newruntime.com/topics/pricing.md): Explore the pricing topic hub.
- collection: [Field Notes](https://newruntime.com/posts.json): Open the latest editorial analysis.
- collection: [Source Ledger](https://newruntime.com/source-ledger.json): Inspect the public source evidence graph.
- whole graph: [discovery graph](https://newruntime.com/discovery-graph.json) (typed nodes and edges) and [site index](https://newruntime.com/site-index.md)