Nova 2 Lite vs Command A
Updated October 21, 2026. 30 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.
Decision reading
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Nova 2 Lite has the edge where output tokens cost 4.0x less, and where the context window is larger, 1M against 256K tokens.
- Shared results
- 30
- Nova 2 Lite only
- 1
- Command A only
- 30
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 of 9
Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results only one model has describe coverage, not superiority.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite leads, 13.4 against 13.1.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Command A has a AA Agentic Index result, 1.0.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Command A has a GPQA Diamond result, 48.5%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only Command A has a AIME result, 13.3%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Command A has a MMLU Pro result, 69.2%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens against 256K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite $0.0015, Command A $0.0075 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Command A has the number, $2.69.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova 2 Lite not benchmarked, Command A not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Math, 9.6 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- LMArena Text: expert: Nova 2 Lite 1359 against Command A 1296, 10.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova 2 Lite $2.50 against Command A $10.00 per million output tokens, 4.0x apart.
- Context window
- Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens, Command A 256K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Nova 2 Lite | Bars | Command A | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 2 | 1 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 3 | 0 | ||
| Math | 2 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 4 | 0 | ||
| General | 12 | 5 | ||
| All shared boards | 24 | 6 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index21
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 23.0 | 27.8 | Command A |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 35.1% | Only Command A measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | Not measured | 7.8% | Only Command A measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 17.6% | Only Command A measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 28.7% | Only Command A measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 38.5% | Only Command A measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 25.0% | Only Command A measured |
| ALE-Bench | 236.3 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1385 | 1330 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1394 | 1336 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 13.4 | 13.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 1.0 | Only Command A measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | Not measured | 9.0% | Only Command A measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 80.7% | Only Command A measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 36 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index30
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 48.5% | Only Command A measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 76.1% | Only Command A measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 12.0% | Only Command A measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1364 | 1326 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1359 | 1296 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1385 | 1335 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | Not measured | 13.3% | Only Command A measured |
| MATH 500 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 76.2% | Only Command A measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | Not measured | 85.7% | Only Command A measured |
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 13.0 | Only Command A measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 13.0% | Only Command A measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1359 | 1300 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1369 | 1312 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index40
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | Not measured | 69.2% | Only Command A measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 79.7% | Only Command A measured |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | Not measured | 64.5% | Only Command A measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | Not measured | 46.0% | Only Command A measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | Not measured | 61.4% | Only Command A measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 80.5% | Only Command A measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | Not measured | 19.7% | Only Command A measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 71.2% | Only Command A measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1382 | 1339 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1386 | 1334 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1359 | 1348 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1369 | 1315 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index125
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | Not measured | 55.7% | Only Command A measured |
| IFBench | Not measured | 73.9% | Only Command A measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 52.7% | Only Command A measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 61.3% | Only Command A measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 10.3% | Only Command A measured |
| LMArena Text | 1362 | 1331 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1335 | 1309 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1292 | 1319 | Command A |
| LMArena Text: English | 1385 | 1344 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1337 | 1313 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1364 | 1327 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: German | 1343 | 1342 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1273 | 1285 | Command A |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1281 | 1285 | Command A |
| LMArena Text: French | 1381 | 1351 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1375 | 1347 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1342 | 1314 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1327 | 1324 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1338 | 1338 | Command A |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1335 | 1334 | Nova 2 Lite |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1318 | 1328 | Command A |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1309 | 1306 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Neither model has a result on the other 24 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Command A | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nova 2 Lite costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nova 2 Lite costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nova 2 Lite costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Amazon Nova 2 Lite | Cohere Command A |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | Cohere |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 2, 2025 | March 13, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M | 256K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $2.50 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $10.00 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $2.69 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nova 2 Lite better than Command A for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Nova 2 Lite has the edge where output tokens cost 4.0x less, and where the context window is larger, 1M against 256K tokens.
Which is cheaper, Nova 2 Lite or Command A?
Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Command A costs $2.50 and $10.00. Cost per solved task is known for Command A only.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or Command A?
Nova 2 Lite, with 1M tokens against 256K.
How many benchmarks is the Nova 2 Lite vs Command A comparison based on?
30 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Nova 2 Lite's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Command A's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.