Model Comparison

Gemma 2 9B vs Nova LiteWhich is better in 2026?

Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Gemma 2 9B vs Nova Lite — which is better?

Gemma 2 9B (by Google) and Nova Lite (by Amazon) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nova Lite is better at 5 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU). Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Gemma 2 9B if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Nova Lite if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2024
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Gemma 2 9B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nova Lite is better at 5 benchmarks (ARC-C, GSM8k, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU).

Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Nova Lite specifies input context (300,000 tokens). Only Nova Lite specifies output context (2,048 tokens).

Google
Gemma 2 9B
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Amazon
Nova Lite
Input300,000 tokens
Output2,048 tokens
Tue Jun 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Nova Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas Gemma 2 9B does not.

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

Gemma 2 9B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Nova Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Gemma 2 9B is licensed under Gemma, while Nova Lite uses a proprietary license.

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

Gemma 2 9B

Gemma

Open weights

Nova Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Gemma 2 9B was released on 2024-06-27, while Nova Lite was released on 2024-11-20.

Nova Lite is 5 months newer than Gemma 2 9B.

Gemma 2 9B

Jun 27, 2024

2.0 years ago

Nova Lite

Nov 20, 2024

1.6 years ago

4mo newer

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

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Google
Has open weights
Amazon
Larger context window (300,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher ARC-C score (92.4% vs 68.4%)
Higher GSM8k score (94.5% vs 68.6%)
Higher HumanEval score (85.4% vs 40.2%)
Higher MATH score (73.3% vs 36.6%)
Higher MMLU score (80.5% vs 71.3%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Google
Gemma 2 9B
Amazon
Nova Lite

FAQ

Common questions about Gemma 2 9B vs Nova Lite.

Which is better, Gemma 2 9B or Nova Lite?

Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Gemma 2 9B is made by Google and Nova Lite is made by Amazon. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Gemma 2 9B compare to Nova Lite in benchmarks?

Gemma 2 9B scores ARC-E: 88.0%, BoolQ: 84.2%, HellaSwag: 81.9%, PIQA: 81.7%, Winogrande: 80.6%. Nova Lite scores GSM8k: 94.5%, ARC-C: 92.4%, DocVQA: 92.4%, IFEval: 89.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.8%.

What are the context window sizes for Gemma 2 9B and Nova Lite?

Gemma 2 9B supports an unknown number of tokens and Nova Lite supports 300K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Gemma 2 9B and Nova Lite?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Gemma vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Gemma 2 9B and Nova Lite?

Gemma 2 9B is developed by Google and Nova Lite is developed by Amazon.

Related comparisons