Nova 2 Lite vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Nova 2 Lite leads Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 13.4 to 10.4, and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs 6.3x less per output token ($0.40 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 1 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nova 2 Lite or Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
- Shared results
- 1
- Nova 2 Lite only
- 30
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite only
- 27
- Like-for-like categories
- 1 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
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 10.4.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a GPQA Diamond result, 70.2%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a AIME result, 42.1%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite has a MMLU Pro result, 79.1%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite takes 1.05M tokens against 1M.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
Nova 2 Lite $0.0015, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.0003 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova 2 Lite not benchmarked, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 3.0 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- AA Intelligence Index: Nova 2 Lite 13.4 against Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 10.4, 3.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova 2 Lite $2.50 against Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite $0.40 per million output tokens, 6.3x apart.
- Context window
- Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 1.05M.
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 | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 23.0 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 71.4% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 59.3% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 4.5% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash 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 31 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 13.4 | 10.4 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 133.8 | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 19.0% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 70.2% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | Not measured | 75.4% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 62.5% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 6.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 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 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | Not measured | 42.1% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | Not measured | 89.5% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 53.3 | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 53.3% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 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 7 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index12 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | Not measured | 79.1% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 82.0% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | Not measured | 57.6% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | Not measured | 66.2% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | Not measured | 57.6% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 88.9% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | Not measured | 34.2% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 75.9% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| 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 5 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index23 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 30.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | Not measured | 75.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| IFBench | Not measured | 49.9% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 55.7% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 62.8% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 18.1% | Only Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite 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 23 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite | 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
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Gemini 2.5 Flash 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 | Google Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | December 2, 2025 | July 22, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $0.40 |
| 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 Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
Which is cheaper, Nova 2 Lite or Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?
Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite costs $0.10 and $0.40. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite?
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite, with 1.05M tokens against 1M.
How many benchmarks is the Nova 2 Lite vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite comparison based on?
1 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Nova 2 Lite's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.