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Grok 4.6 vs Nova Lite

Comparing Grok 4.6 and Nova Lite across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

xAI · Amazon · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok 4.6 and Nova Lite trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

On price, Nova Lite is roughly 28.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Grok 4.6 also accepts a larger context window (500,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Grok 4.6

  • you process long inputs — it offers a 500,000 token context window
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

Choose Nova Lite

  • cost matters — it's about 28.6x cheaper per token

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok 4.6
xAI
Nova Lite
Amazon
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$2.00 / M
$0.06 / M
Output price
$6.00 / M
$0.24 / M
Context window
500,000
300,000
Released
Aug 2026
Nov 2024
License
Proprietary
Proprietary

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Grok 4.6 and Nova Litedon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Nova Lite costs less

For input processing, Grok 4.6 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 33.3x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.06/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok 4.6 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 25.0x more expensive than Nova Lite ($0.24/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok 4.6 is more expensive than Nova Lite.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok 4.6
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$6.00
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

Grok 4.6 accepts 500,000 input tokens compared to Nova Lite's 300,000 tokens. Only Nova Lite specifies output context (2,048 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.6
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Amazon
Nova Lite
Input300,000 tokens
Output2,048 tokens
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok 4.6 and Nova Lite support multimodal inputs.

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

Grok 4.6

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 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

Nova Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.6 was released on 2026-08-12, while Nova Lite was released on 2024-11-20.

Grok 4.6 is 21 months newer than Nova Lite.

Grok 4.6

Aug 12, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.7yr newer
Nova Lite

Nov 20, 2024

1.8 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.6 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while Nova Lite's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok 4.6's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Nova Lite's cutoff date.

Grok 4.6

Feb 2026

Nova Lite

—

Provider Availability

Grok 4.6 is available from xAI. Nova Lite is available from Bedrock.

Grok 4.6

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $6.00/1M

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→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok 4.6 and Nova Lite side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.6
✓ Preferred
Nova Lite
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.6 vs Nova Lite.

Which is better, Grok 4.6 or Nova Lite?

Grok 4.6 (xAI) and Nova Lite (Amazon) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Grok 4.6 compare to Nova Lite in benchmarks?

Grok 4.6 scores CursorBench v3.2: 69.9%, DeepSWE 1.1: 65.9%, FrontierCode: 61.3%, AA-Index: 61.0%, GDPval-AA: 58.4%. Nova Lite scores GSM8k: 94.5%, ARC-C: 92.4%, DocVQA: 92.4%, IFEval: 89.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.8%.

Is Grok 4.6 cheaper than Nova Lite?

Nova Lite is 33.3x cheaper for input tokens. Grok 4.6 costs $2.00/M input and $6.00/M output via xai. Nova Lite costs $0.06/M input and $0.24/M output via bedrock.

What are the context window sizes for Grok 4.6 and Nova Lite?

Grok 4.6 supports 500K 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 Grok 4.6 and Nova Lite?

Key differences include context window (500K vs 300K), input pricing ($2.00 vs $0.06/M). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.6 and Nova Lite?

Grok 4.6 is developed by xAI and Nova Lite is developed by Amazon.

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