Nova 2 Lite vs DeepSeek V3
DeepSeek V3 costs 2.6x less per output token than Nova 2 Lite ($0.9594 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; no benchmark has tested both models yet.
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $2.50
- Coding
- No data
- Overall
- No data
- Output $/M
- $0.9594
Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek V3: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Nova 2 Lite for a larger context window (1M against 164K tokens).
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nova 2 Lite has results on AA Coding Index, ALE-Bench and LMArena Text: coding; DeepSeek V3 on Aider polyglot, SWE-bench Lite and GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run). Compare them on price and context instead.
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
No call
Only Nova 2 Lite has a AA Intelligence Index result, 13.4.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only DeepSeek V3 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1120.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens against 164K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
DeepSeek V3
Nova 2 Lite $0.0015, DeepSeek V3 $0.0008 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova 2 Lite not benchmarked, DeepSeek V3 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- None yet: no category has been tested on both models.
- Widest single gap
- None yet: no benchmark has tested both models.
- Output price
- Nova 2 Lite $2.50 against DeepSeek V3 $0.9594 per million output tokens, 2.6x apart.
- Context window
- Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens, DeepSeek V3 164K.
Benchmark by benchmark
Every board either model has a result on, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale. Only one model is measured on each, so no row names a leader.
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index6 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aider polyglot | Not measured | 70.2% | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| SWE-bench Lite | Not measured | 30.7% | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| AA Coding Index | 23.0 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| ALE-Bench | 236.3 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1385 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1394 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board measured
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 13.4 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 71.2% | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1364 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1359 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1385 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | Not measured | 52.3% | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 48.9% | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1359 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1369 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text: science | 1382 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1386 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1359 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1369 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | Not measured | 1120 | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | Not measured | 1093 | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | Not measured | 1053 | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | Not measured | 1089 | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 1087 | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | Not measured | 1108 | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 976 | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index19 boards measured
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| DTBench | Not measured | 62.7% | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 15.2% | Only DeepSeek V3 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1362 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1335 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1292 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1385 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1337 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1364 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1343 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1273 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1281 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1381 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1375 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1342 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1327 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1338 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1335 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1318 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1309 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 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
DeepSeek V3 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
DeepSeek V3 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
DeepSeek V3 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 | DeepSeek V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | DeepSeek |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 2, 2025 | December 26, 2024 |
| Context window | 1M | 164K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.2887 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $0.9594 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nova 2 Lite better than DeepSeek V3 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Nova 2 Lite for a larger context window (1M against 164K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek V3?
Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; DeepSeek V3 costs $0.2887 and $0.9594. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek V3?
Nova 2 Lite, with 1M tokens against 164K.
Has any benchmark tested both Nova 2 Lite and DeepSeek V3?
No benchmark has tested both yet. Nova 2 Lite has results on AA Coding Index, ALE-Bench and LMArena Text: coding; DeepSeek V3 on Aider polyglot, SWE-bench Lite and GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run). Compare them on price and context instead. Data as of October 21, 2026.