Nova 2 Sonic vs Qwen3 235B A22B
Nova 2 Sonic and Qwen3 235B A22B are closely matched at 9.2 and 15.7 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3 235B A22B is 9.3x cheaper per token.
Amazon · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Nova 2 Sonic and Qwen3 235B A22B are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 9.2 and 15.7.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Nova 2 Sonic wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 235B A22B is roughly 9.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Nova 2 Sonic also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Nova 2 Sonic
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Choose Qwen3 235B A22B
- cost matters — it's about 9.3x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for Nova 2 Sonic · 23 for Qwen3 235B A22B
Nova 2 Sonic outperforms in 1 benchmarks (BFCL), while Qwen3 235B A22B is better at 0 benchmarks.
Nova 2 Sonic significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Nova 2 Sonic ($0.33/1M tokens) is 3.3x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, Nova 2 Sonic ($2.75/1M tokens) is 27.5x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Nova 2 Sonic is more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Nova 2 Sonic accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3 235B A22B's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 235B A22B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Nova 2 Sonic is limited to 65,536 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Nova 2 Sonic supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 235B A22B does not.
Nova 2 Sonic can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Nova 2 Sonic
Qwen3 235B A22B
License
Usage and distribution terms
Nova 2 Sonic is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 235B A22B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Nova 2 Sonic was released on 2025-12-02, while Qwen3 235B A22B was released on 2025-04-29.
Nova 2 Sonic is 7 months newer than Qwen3 235B A22B.
Dec 2, 2025
9 months ago
7mo newerApr 29, 2025
1.4 years 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
Nova 2 Sonic is available from Bedrock. Qwen3 235B A22B is available from Fireworks, DeepInfra, Novita, Together.
Nova 2 Sonic
Qwen3 235B A22B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Nova 2 Sonic and Qwen3 235B A22B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Nova 2 Sonic vs Qwen3 235B A22B.