Model Comparison

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 vs Nova LiteWhich is better in 2026?

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Verdict: Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 vs Nova Lite — which is better?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 (by NVIDIA) 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.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Nova Lite is better at 1 benchmark (IFEval). Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Choose Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Nova Lite if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.06/M input and $0.24/M output

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Nova Lite is better at 1 benchmark (IFEval).

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.

Mon Jul 27 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).

NVIDIA
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Amazon
Nova Lite
Input300,000 tokens
Output2,048 tokens
Mon Jul 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Nova Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 does not.

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

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Nova Lite

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 is licensed under Llama 3.1 Community License, while Nova Lite uses a proprietary license.

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

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Llama 3.1 Community License

Open weights

Nova Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 was released on 2025-04-07, while Nova Lite was released on 2024-11-20.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 is 5 months newer than Nova Lite.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Apr 7, 2025

1.3 years ago

4mo newer
Nova Lite

Nov 20, 2024

1.7 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2023-12-01, while Nova Lite's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1's training data extends to 2023-12-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Nova Lite's cutoff date.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1

Dec 2023

Nova Lite

—

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

NVIDIA
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (76.0% vs 42.0%)
Amazon
Larger context window (300,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher IFEval score (89.7% vs 89.5%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 and Nova Lite side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
✓ Preferred
Nova Lite
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
NVIDIA
Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1
Amazon
Nova Lite

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 vs Nova Lite.

Which is better, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 or Nova Lite?

Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 is made by NVIDIA 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 Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 compare to Nova Lite in benchmarks?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 scores MATH-500: 97.0%, IFEval: 89.5%, GPQA: 76.0%, BFCL v2: 74.1%, AIME 2025: 72.5%. 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 Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 and Nova Lite?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 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 Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 and Nova Lite?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Llama 3.1 Community License vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 and Nova Lite?

Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B v1 is developed by NVIDIA and Nova Lite is developed by Amazon.

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