Model Comparison
GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Nova LiteWhich is better in 2026?
Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nova Lite is 7.1x cheaper per token.
Verdict: GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Nova Lite — which is better?
GPT-3.5 Turbo (by OpenAI) 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.
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nova Lite is better at 6 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU, MMMU). Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Nova Lite is roughly 7.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Nova Lite also accepts a larger context window (300,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose GPT-3.5 Turbo if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.50/M input and $1.50/M output
Choose Nova Lite if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 6 of 6 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 7.1x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 300,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2024
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GPT-3.5 Turbo outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Nova Lite is better at 6 benchmarks (DROP, GPQA, HumanEval, MATH, MMLU, MMMU).
Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 8.3x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.06/1M tokens).
For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 6.3x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.24/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GPT-3.5 Turbo is more expensive than Nova Lite.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Nova Lite accepts 300,000 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. GPT-3.5 Turbo can generate longer responses up to 4,096 tokens, while Nova Lite is limited to 2,048 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Nova Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas GPT-3.5 Turbo does not.
Nova Lite can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Nova Lite
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while Nova Lite was released on 2024-11-20.
Nova Lite is 20 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.
Mar 21, 2023
3.3 years ago
Nov 20, 2024
1.6 years ago
1.7yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while Nova Lite's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm GPT-3.5 Turbo's training data extends to 2021-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without Nova Lite's cutoff date.
Sep 2021
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Provider Availability
GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. Nova Lite is available from Bedrock.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
Nova Lite
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.
Nova Lite
View detailsAmazon
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GPT-3.5 Turbo and Nova Lite side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about GPT-3.5 Turbo vs Nova Lite.