Model Comparison

Nova Lite vs Nova MicroWhich is better in 2026?

Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nova Micro is 1.8x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Nova Lite vs Nova Micro — which is better?

Nova Lite (by Amazon) and Nova Micro (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.

Nova Lite outperforms in 17 benchmarks (ARC-C, BBH, BFCL, CRAG, DROP, FinQA, GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, IFEval, MATH, MMLU, SQuALITY, Translation en→Set1 COMET22, Translation en→Set1 spBleu, Translation Set1→en COMET22, Translation Set1→en spBleu), while Nova Micro is better at 0 benchmarks. Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Nova Micro is roughly 1.8x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Nova Lite also accepts a larger context window (300,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Nova Lite if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 17 of 17 shared benchmarks
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 300,000 token context window

Choose Nova Micro if…

  • cost matters — it's about 1.8x cheaper per token

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

17 benchmarks

Nova Lite outperforms in 17 benchmarks (ARC-C, BBH, BFCL, CRAG, DROP, FinQA, GPQA, GSM8k, HumanEval, IFEval, MATH, MMLU, SQuALITY, Translation en→Set1 COMET22, Translation en→Set1 spBleu, Translation Set1→en COMET22, Translation Set1→en spBleu), while Nova Micro is better at 0 benchmarks.

Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Jul 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Nova Micro costs less

For input processing, Nova Lite ($0.06/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.03/1M tokens).

For output processing, Nova Lite ($0.24/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Nova Micro ($0.14/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Nova Lite is more expensive than Nova Micro.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Jul 15 2026 • llm-stats.com
Amazon
Nova Lite
Input tokens$0.06
Output tokens$0.24
Best providerAWS Bedrock
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

Nova Lite accepts 300,000 input tokens compared to Nova Micro's 128,000 tokens. Nova Micro can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Nova Lite is limited to 2,048 tokens.

Amazon
Nova Lite
Input300,000 tokens
Output2,048 tokens
Amazon
Nova Micro
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Wed Jul 15 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Nova Lite supports multimodal inputs, whereas Nova Micro does not.

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

Nova Lite

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.

Nova Lite

Proprietary

Closed source

Nova Micro

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Both models were released on 2024-11-20.

They likely represent similar generations of model development.

Nova Lite

Nov 20, 2024

1.6 years ago

Nova Micro

Nov 20, 2024

1.6 years 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

Nova Lite is available from Bedrock. Nova Micro is available from Bedrock.

Nova Lite

bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.06/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.24/1M

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→

Key Takeaways

Amazon
Larger context window (300,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher ARC-C score (92.4% vs 90.2%)
Higher BBH score (82.4% vs 79.5%)
Higher BFCL score (66.6% vs 56.2%)
Higher CRAG score (43.8% vs 43.1%)
Higher DROP score (80.2% vs 79.3%)
Higher FinQA score (73.6% vs 65.2%)
Higher GPQA score (42.0% vs 40.0%)
Higher GSM8k score (94.5% vs 92.3%)
Higher HumanEval score (85.4% vs 81.1%)
Higher IFEval score (89.7% vs 87.2%)
Higher MATH score (73.3% vs 69.3%)
Higher MMLU score (80.5% vs 77.6%)
Higher SQuALITY score (19.2% vs 18.8%)
Higher Translation en→Set1 COMET22 score (88.8% vs 88.5%)
Higher Translation en→Set1 spBleu score (41.5% vs 40.2%)
Higher Translation Set1→en COMET22 score (88.8% vs 88.7%)
Higher Translation Set1→en spBleu score (43.1% vs 42.6%)
Amazon
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

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

Nova Lite
✓ Preferred
Nova Micro
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Amazon
Nova Lite
Amazon
Nova Micro

FAQ

Common questions about Nova Lite vs Nova Micro.

Which is better, Nova Lite or Nova Micro?

Nova Lite significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Nova Lite is made by Amazon and Nova Micro is made by Amazon. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Nova Lite compare to Nova Micro in benchmarks?

Nova Lite scores GSM8k: 94.5%, ARC-C: 92.4%, DocVQA: 92.4%, IFEval: 89.7%, Translation en→Set1 COMET22: 88.8%. 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 Nova Lite cheaper than Nova Micro?

Nova Micro is 2.0x cheaper for input tokens. Nova Lite costs $0.06/M input and $0.24/M output via bedrock. Nova Micro costs $0.03/M input and $0.14/M output via bedrock.

What are the context window sizes for Nova Lite and Nova Micro?

Nova Lite supports 300K 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 Nova Lite and Nova Micro?

Key differences include context window (300K vs 128K), input pricing ($0.06 vs $0.03/M), multimodal support (yes vs no). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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