DeepSeek-R1 vs Nova Lite Comparison

Comparing DeepSeek-R1 and Nova Lite across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek-R1 and Nova Lite don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Nova Lite costs less

For input processing, DeepSeek-R1 ($0.55/1M tokens) is 9.2x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.06/1M tokens).

For output processing, DeepSeek-R1 ($2.19/1M tokens) is 9.1x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.24/1M tokens).

In conclusion, DeepSeek-R1 is more expensive than Nova Lite.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers

Mon Mar 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

DeepSeek-R1

Input tokens$0.55

Output tokens$2.19

Best providerDeepSeek

Nova Lite

Input tokens$0.06

Output tokens$0.24

Best providerAWS Bedrock

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Nova Lite accepts 300,000 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-R1's 131,072 tokens. DeepSeek-R1 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Nova Lite is limited to 2,048 tokens.

DeepSeek-R1

Input131,072 tokens

Output131,072 tokens

Nova Lite

Input300,000 tokens

Output2,048 tokens

Mon Mar 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Nova Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek-R1 does not.

Nova Lite can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek-R1

Text

Images

Audio

Video

Nova Lite

Text

Images

Audio

Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-R1 is licensed under MIT, while Nova Lite uses a proprietary license.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

DeepSeek-R1

MIT

Open weights

Nova Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-R1 was released on 2025-01-20, while Nova Lite was released on 2024-11-20.

DeepSeek-R1 is 2 months newer than Nova Lite.

DeepSeek-R1

Jan 20, 2025

1.2 years ago

2mo newer

Nova Lite

Nov 20, 2024

1.3 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

DeepSeek-R1 is available from DeepSeek, DeepInfra, Together, Fireworks. Nova Lite is available from Bedrock. The availability of providers can affect quality of the model and reliability.