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Grok 4.6 vs Nova Micro

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

xAI · Amazon · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

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

On price, Nova Micro is roughly 52.2x 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 Micro

  • cost matters — it's about 52.2x cheaper per token

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok 4.6
xAI
Nova Micro
Amazon
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$2.00 / M
$0.03 / M
Output price
$6.00 / M
$0.14 / M
Context window
500,000
128,000
Released
Aug 2026
Nov 2024
License
Proprietary
Proprietary

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Grok 4.6 and Nova Microdon'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 Micro costs less

For input processing, Grok 4.6 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 66.7x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.03/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok 4.6 ($6.00/1M tokens) is 42.9x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.14/1M tokens).

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

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok 4.6
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$6.00
Best providerxAI
Amazon
Nova Micro
Input tokens$0.03
Output tokens$0.14
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 Micro's 128,000 tokens. Only Nova Micro specifies output context (128,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.6
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Amazon
Nova Micro
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok 4.6 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Nova Micro does not.

Grok 4.6 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok 4.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Nova Micro

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 Micro

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

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

Grok 4.6 is 21 months newer than Nova Micro.

Grok 4.6

Aug 12, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.7yr newer
Nova Micro

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 Micro'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 Micro's cutoff date.

Grok 4.6

Feb 2026

Nova Micro

—

Provider Availability

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

Grok 4.6

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

Nova Micro

bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.03/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.14/1M
* 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 Micro side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.6
✓ Preferred
Nova Micro
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.6 vs Nova Micro.

Which is better, Grok 4.6 or Nova Micro?

Grok 4.6 (xAI) and Nova Micro (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 Micro 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 Micro scores GSM8k: 92.3%, ARC-C: 90.2%, Translation Set1→en COMET22: 88.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.5%, IFEval: 87.2%.

Is Grok 4.6 cheaper than Nova Micro?

Nova Micro is 66.7x cheaper for input tokens. Grok 4.6 costs $2.00/M input and $6.00/M output via xai. Nova Micro costs $0.03/M input and $0.14/M output via bedrock.

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

Grok 4.6 supports 500K tokens and Nova Micro supports 128K 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 Micro?

Key differences include context window (500K vs 128K), input pricing ($2.00 vs $0.03/M), multimodal support (yes vs no). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.6 and Nova Micro?

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

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