Nemotron-Cascade 2
Open-weight 30B MoE LLM for advanced reasoning and agentic capabilities.
VS
Perplexity AI
AI-powered answer engine for real-time, cited information and advanced research.
Detailed comparison
Criteria
Nemotron-Cascade 2
Perplexity AI
Pricing
Free
Freemium
Plans & pricing
—
Free Plan: Free, Perplexity Pro: $16.67/mo, Education Pro: $10/mo, Perplexity Max: $166.67/mo, Perplexity Enterprise Pro: $33.33/mo, Perplexity Enterprise Max: $270.83/mo, API Pricing: Custom
Free trial
—
No
Audience
B2B
b2c
Platforms
—
Web
API
—
No
Open Source
—
Proprietary
Categories
AI Agents, Dev Tools
SEO, Education
Popularity
Moderate
Very High
Description
Nemotron-Cascade 2 is an open-weight 30B Mixture-of-Experts large language model designed to maximize intelligence density. It delivers advanced reaso...
Perplexity AI is a research-oriented answer engine that integrates large language models with live web search, transparent citations, document analysi...
Pricing
Nemotron-Cascade 2
Free
Perplexity AI
Freemium
Plans & pricing
Nemotron-Cascade 2
—
Perplexity AI
Free Plan: Free, Perplexity Pro: $16.67/mo, Education Pro: $10/mo, Perplexity Max: $166.67/mo, Perplexity Enterprise Pro: $33.33/mo, Perplexity Enterprise Max: $270.83/mo, API Pricing: Custom
Free trial
Nemotron-Cascade 2
—
Perplexity AI
No
Audience
Nemotron-Cascade 2
B2B
Perplexity AI
b2c
Platforms
Nemotron-Cascade 2
—
Perplexity AI
Web
API
Nemotron-Cascade 2
—
Perplexity AI
No
Open Source
Nemotron-Cascade 2
—
Perplexity AI
Proprietary
Categories
Nemotron-Cascade 2
AI Agents, Dev Tools
Perplexity AI
SEO, Education
Popularity
Nemotron-Cascade 2
Moderate
Perplexity AI
Very High
Description
Nemotron-Cascade 2
Nemotron-Cascade 2 is an open-weight 30B Mixture-of-Experts large language model designed to maximize intelligence density. It delivers advanced reaso...
Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI is a research-oriented answer engine that integrates large language models with live web search, transparent citations, document analysi...
Features
Nemotron-Cascade 2
Open-weight 30B Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture: Features 30 billion total parameters with only 3 billion activated parameters per token, enabling efficient performance.
Advanced Reasoning Capabilities: Delivers best-in-class reasoning, especially in mathematical problems and coding tasks. It has achieved gold-medal level performance in the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
Strong Agentic Capabilities: Equipped with robust abilities for agentic tasks.
Operating Modes: Supports both a "Thinking Mode" for deep reasoning in complex math and code tasks (activated by a `<think>` token) and a "Non-Thinking Mode" for more efficient, direct responses.
Structured Tool-Calling Protocol: Utilizes a defined protocol within the system prompt for effective tool use in agentic applications.
Post-training Pipeline: Built using the Nemotron-3-Nano-30B-A3B-Base model and refined through a post-training pipeline involving Cascade RL and Multi-domain On-Policy Distillation (MOPD).
Perplexity AI
Real-time answers with cited sources
Perplexity Computer for autonomous, multi-model AI workflows
Access to advanced AI models (GPT-5.1, Claude Opus 4.5, o3-pro, etc.)
File upload and analysis (PDFs, spreadsheets, reports)
Comet AI-native browser for integrated web assistance
Focus Modes for targeted searches (Web, Academic, Social, Health, Finance)
Key differentiators
Nemotron-Cascade 2
Perplexity AI
- Real-time answers with cited sources
- Agentic AI workflows (Perplexity Computer)
- Document analysis & specialized focus modes
Other comparisons
FAQ: Nemotron-Cascade 2 vs Perplexity AI
Nemotron-Cascade 2: Open-weight 30B MoE LLM for advanced reasoning and agentic capabilities.. Perplexity AI: AI-powered answer engine for real-time, cited information and advanced research.. Both tools take different approaches to address similar needs.
Both offer a free or freemium plan. Nemotron-Cascade 2 is free and Perplexity AI is freemium.
The best choice between Nemotron-Cascade 2 and Perplexity AI depends on your specific needs. Compare their features, pricing, and target audience on this page to find the tool that best fits your use case.
Nemotron-Cascade 2 is primarily designed for businesses and professionals, while Perplexity AI is built for individuals.
Nemotron-Cascade 2 offers: Open-weight 30B Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture: Features 30 billion total parameters with only 3 billion activated parameters per token, enabling efficient performance., Advanced Reasoning Capabilities: Delivers best-in-class reasoning, especially in mathematical problems and coding tasks. It has achieved gold-medal level performance in the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)., Strong Agentic Capabilities: Equipped with robust abilities for agentic tasks., Operating Modes: Supports both a "Thinking Mode" for deep reasoning in complex math and code tasks (activated by a `<think>` token) and a "Non-Thinking Mode" for more efficient, direct responses.. Perplexity AI offers: Real-time answers with cited sources, Perplexity Computer for autonomous, multi-model AI workflows, Access to advanced AI models (GPT-5.1, Claude Opus 4.5, o3-pro, etc.), File upload and analysis (PDFs, spreadsheets, reports).
Based on our data, Perplexity AI currently enjoys greater popularity. However, popularity isn't the only factor — compare features to find the right tool for your needs.