Model Comparison

Grok-3 Mini vs Nova Lite

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nova Lite is 3.3x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Nova Lite is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Apr 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Nova Lite costs less

For input processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.06/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens) is 2.1x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.24/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok-3 Mini is more expensive than Nova Lite.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Apr 15 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerxAI
Amazon
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 Grok-3 Mini's 128,000 tokens. Grok-3 Mini can generate longer responses up to 8,000 tokens, while Nova Lite is limited to 2,048 tokens.

xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Amazon
Nova Lite
Input300,000 tokens
Output2,048 tokens
Wed Apr 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok-3 Mini and Nova Lite support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Grok-3 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Nova Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Grok-3 Mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Nova Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while Nova Lite was released on 2024-11-20.

Grok-3 Mini is 3 months newer than Nova Lite.

Grok-3 Mini

Feb 17, 2025

1.2 years ago

2mo newer
Nova Lite

Nov 20, 2024

1.4 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Nova Lite's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok-3 Mini's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without Nova Lite's cutoff date.

Grok-3 Mini

Nov 2024

Nova Lite

—

Provider Availability

Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI. Nova Lite is available from Bedrock.

Grok-3 Mini

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M

Nova Lite

bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.06/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.24/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

xAI
Higher GPQA score (84.0% vs 42.0%)
Amazon
Larger context window (300,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
xAIGrok-3 Mini
AmazonNova Lite
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Amazon
Nova Lite

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs Nova Lite

Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is made by xAI and Nova Lite is made by Amazon. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
Grok-3 Mini scores AIME 2024: 95.8%, AIME 2025: 90.8%, GPQA: 84.0%, LiveCodeBench: 80.4%. Nova Lite scores GSM8k: 94.5%, ARC-C: 92.4%, DocVQA: 92.4%, IFEval: 89.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.8%.
Nova Lite is 5.0x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-3 Mini costs $0.30/M input and $0.50/M output via xai. Nova Lite costs $0.06/M input and $0.24/M output via bedrock.
Grok-3 Mini supports 128K tokens and Nova Lite supports 300K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (128K vs 300K), input pricing ($0.30 vs $0.06/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
Grok-3 Mini is developed by xAI and Nova Lite is developed by Amazon.