Mercury 3 vs Nova 2 Lite
Mercury 3 leads the LLM Stats Score 36.1 to 25.0. Mercury 3 is 5.2x cheaper per token.
Inception · Amazon · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Mercury 3 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 36.1 to 25.0, ranking #98 overall.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Mercury 3 wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Mercury 3 is roughly 5.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Mercury 3
- overall performance matters — it scores 36.1 and ranks #98 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 5.2x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026
Choose Nova 2 Lite
- you want predictable pricing at $0.30/M input and $2.50/M output
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
12 reported for Mercury 3 · 19 for Nova 2 Lite
Mercury 3 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, IFBench), while Nova 2 Lite is better at 1 benchmark (Multi-Challenge).
Mercury 3 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Mercury 3 ($0.10/1M tokens) is 3.0x cheaper than Nova 2 Lite ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, Mercury 3 ($0.35/1M tokens) is 7.1x cheaper than Nova 2 Lite ($2.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Nova 2 Lite is more expensive than Mercury 3.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 1,000,000 tokens. Mercury 3 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Nova 2 Lite is limited to 65,536 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Nova 2 Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas Mercury 3 does not.
Nova 2 Lite can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Mercury 3
Nova 2 Lite
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Mercury 3 was released on 2026-10-19, while Nova 2 Lite was released on 2025-12-02.
Mercury 3 is 11 months newer than Nova 2 Lite.
Oct 19, 2026
0 days ago
10mo newerDec 2, 2025
10 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Mercury 3 is available from Inception. Nova 2 Lite is available from Bedrock.
Mercury 3
Nova 2 Lite
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Mercury 3 and Nova 2 Lite side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Mercury 3 vs Nova 2 Lite.