Needle 3
Foundation model for mobile, wearables, robots, smart home, automotive and microcontrollers
- Upvotes
- 0
- DR
- 56 no change since last check
- Followers
- 0
An 8-29 MB foundation model that runs locally on tiny devices, outperforming larger models on tool calling and extraction tasks.
About Needle 3
Needle 3 is a foundation model designed for on-device AI inference on mobile devices, wearables, robots, smart home systems, automotive applications, and microcontrollers. The entire model fits in a single 8-29 MB binary built on Cactus Compute's Simple Attention Network architecture.
The model provides three core capabilities: tool calling, where it picks the correct functions and fills arguments from user requests; structured extraction, where it parses messy text into typed fields with guaranteed parse validity; and text embedding for local search and matching.
Needle 3 uses an intelligence laddering architecture where developers can choose subnetworks from 2 to 20 layers, with each offering monotonically increasing capacity. The model operates at 400-4k tokens per second decode speed on a Raspberry Pi 5 and uses CQ2-bit quantization. Fine-tuned subnetworks as small as 4 layers can match larger models like DeepSeek V4 Flash on downstream tasks.
- edge inference
- foundation model
- on-device ai
- lightweight model
Features worth knowing
- Tool calling with function selection and argument filling
- Structured extraction with guaranteed JSON parsing
- Text embeddings for local semantic search and matching
- Confidence scoring for routing and gating calls
- Laddered subnetwork architecture from 2 to 20 layers
- LoRA fine-tuning support for customization
- 400-4k tokens per second inference speed on Raspberry Pi 5
- Python package with pip install and Hugging Face distribution
Pricing
Pricing model: Open source
Needle 3 metrics
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Domain Rating | 56 no change since last check |
| Trust Flow | 14 no change since last check |
| Citation Flow | 39 no change since last check |
| Referring domains | 1,592 no change since last check |
| External backlinks | 11,113 no change since last check |
Ahrefs Domain Rating scanned 1 Nov 2026, updated 1 Nov 2026. Main topic: Business (13). Majestic scanned 1 Nov 2026, updated 1 Nov 2026. Link stats via Majestic. Trust Flow, Citation Flow and Topical Trust Flow are trademarks of Majestic-12 Ltd.
Needle 3 domain facts
Reveal the domain facts
| Domain age | 2 years |
|---|---|
| Registered | |
| Expires | |
| Registrar | Squarespace Domains LLC |
| DNSSEC | Not signed |
Needle 3 launch results
| Measure | At launch, then latest |
|---|---|
| Domain Rating (Ahrefs) | 56 first measured 1 Nov 2026 |
| Referring domains (Majestic) | 1,592 first measured 1 Nov 2026 |
Day 0 since launch. Next receipt: day 30, 1 Dec 2026. The figures report a change; they do not say what caused it, and many things can. No figure here is a guess.
Compare and explore
FAQ
- Can Needle 3 be fine-tuned?
- Yes, you can fine-tune Needle 3 using LoRA on the frozen base at the full 20 layers, then export any subnetwork as a 4-bit .cact file. The Python package provides the quick path, and the Cactus Platform offers full fine-tuning infrastructure.
Leave a review for Needle 3
Nobody has reviewed Needle 3 yet. Start things off.
A review is always free and can never be paid for. Go to the reviews and discussion
Reviews and chat · Product news · Send it on · Run this company? Claim it here · Report it
Needle 3 has a free listing. The owner can unlock the full profile with a paid launch for $5:
- Founder story (locked)
- Milestones (locked)
- Demo video (locked)
- Dofollow website link (locked)
Alternatives to Needle 3
Solo Router
One API key for DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi, Qwen, Llama, Gemma and more
LLM APIs & models0 votes. Log in to add your vote for Solo RouterUpstage AI
Building intelligence for the future of work
LLM APIs & models0 votes. Log in to add your vote for Upstage AIGladia
AI audio infrastructure for voice products that transcribes and enriches conversations through a single API
LLM APIs & models0 votes. Log in to add your vote for GladiareAPI
One unified API endpoint for top AI models across image, video, chat, music, and code generation
LLM APIs & models0 votes. Log in to add your vote for reAPI
