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Model Comparison

Mercury 2 vs Nova 2 LiteWhich is better in 2026?

Nova 2 Lite has a slight edge in benchmark performance. Mercury 2 is 2.3x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Mercury 2 vs Nova 2 Lite — which is better?

Mercury 2 (by Inception) and Nova 2 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.

Mercury 2 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, IFBench), while Nova 2 Lite is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, Tau2 Airline). Nova 2 Lite has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

On price, Mercury 2 is roughly 2.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Nova 2 Lite also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Mercury 2 if…

  • cost matters — it's about 2.3x cheaper per token
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2026

Choose Nova 2 Lite if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 5 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Mercury 2 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, IFBench), while Nova 2 Lite is better at 3 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench, Tau2 Airline).

Nova 2 Lite has a slight edge in benchmark performance.

Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Mercury 2 costs less

For input processing, Mercury 2 ($0.25/1M tokens) is 1.2x cheaper than Nova 2 Lite ($0.30/1M tokens).

For output processing, Mercury 2 ($0.75/1M tokens) is 3.3x cheaper than Nova 2 Lite ($2.50/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Nova 2 Lite is more expensive than Mercury 2.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com
Inception
Mercury 2
Input tokens$0.25
Output tokens$0.75
Best providerInception
Amazon
Nova 2 Lite
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$2.50
Best providerAWS Bedrock
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Nova 2 Lite accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Mercury 2's 128,000 tokens. Nova 2 Lite can generate longer responses up to 65,536 tokens, while Mercury 2 is limited to 8,192 tokens.

Inception
Mercury 2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,192 tokens
Amazon
Nova 2 Lite
Input1,000,000 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Fri Aug 07 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Nova 2 Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mercury 2 does not.

Nova 2 Lite can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Mercury 2

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Nova 2 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.

Mercury 2

Proprietary

Closed source

Nova 2 Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Mercury 2 was released on 2026-02-24, while Nova 2 Lite was released on 2025-12-02.

Mercury 2 is 3 months newer than Nova 2 Lite.

Mercury 2

Feb 24, 2026

5 months ago

2mo newer
Nova 2 Lite

Dec 2, 2025

8 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Mercury 2 is available from Inception. Nova 2 Lite is available from Bedrock.

Mercury 2

inception logo
Inception
Input Price:Input: $0.25/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.75/1M

Nova 2 Lite

bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.50/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion

Key Takeaways

Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher AIME 2025 score (91.1% vs 91.0%)
Higher IFBench score (71.0% vs 70.8%)
Larger context window (1,000,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (79.6% vs 74.0%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (71.0% vs 67.0%)
Higher Tau2 Airline score (64.8% vs 53.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Mercury 2 and Nova 2 Lite side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Mercury 2
✓ Preferred
Nova 2 Lite
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Inception
Mercury 2
Amazon
Nova 2 Lite

FAQ

Common questions about Mercury 2 vs Nova 2 Lite.

Which is better, Mercury 2 or Nova 2 Lite?

Nova 2 Lite has a slight edge in benchmark performance. Mercury 2 is made by Inception and Nova 2 Lite is made by Amazon. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Mercury 2 compare to Nova 2 Lite in benchmarks?

Mercury 2 scores AIME 2025: 91.1%, GPQA: 74.0%, IFBench: 71.0%, LiveCodeBench: 67.0%, Tau2 Airline: 53.0%. Nova 2 Lite scores AIME 2025: 91.0%, LongCodeBench: 84.0%, ScreenSpot: 83.3%, MMLU-Pro: 80.9%, GPQA: 79.6%.

Is Mercury 2 cheaper than Nova 2 Lite?

Mercury 2 is 1.2x cheaper for input tokens. Mercury 2 costs $0.25/M input and $0.75/M output via inception. Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30/M input and $2.50/M output via bedrock.

What are the context window sizes for Mercury 2 and Nova 2 Lite?

Mercury 2 supports 128K tokens and Nova 2 Lite supports 1.0M tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Mercury 2 and Nova 2 Lite?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 1.0M), input pricing ($0.25 vs $0.30/M), multimodal support (no vs yes). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Mercury 2 and Nova 2 Lite?

Mercury 2 is developed by Inception and Nova 2 Lite is developed by Amazon.