Nova 2 Lite vs GLM 4.5 Air
Nova 2 Lite leads GLM 4.5 Air on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 13.4 to 11.1, and GLM 4.5 Air costs 2.3x less per output token ($1.10 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 29 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nova 2 Lite or GLM 4.5 Air: 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 131K tokens) and work measured by LMArena Text: coding or LMArena Text: software and IT, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 29
- Nova 2 Lite only
- 2
- GLM 4.5 Air only
- 19
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 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 11.1.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only GLM 4.5 Air has a Design Arena: websites result, 1146.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
GLM 4.5 Air
Nova 2 Lite $0.0015, GLM 4.5 Air $0.0008 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova 2 Lite not benchmarked, GLM 4.5 Air not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- General, 5.5 points apart on average over 17 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- LMArena Text: Japanese: Nova 2 Lite 1273 against GLM 4.5 Air 1348, 12.4 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova 2 Lite $2.50 against GLM 4.5 Air $1.10 per million output tokens, 2.3x apart.
- Context window
- Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens, GLM 4.5 Air 131K.
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 | GLM 4.5 Air | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 2 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 3 | ||
| Math | 0 | 2 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 4 | ||
| General | 0 | 17 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 28 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index02
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 23.0 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 68.4% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 20.5% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| GSO-Bench | Not measured | 2.9% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| ALE-Bench | 236.3 | Not measured | Only Nova 2 Lite measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1385 | 1397 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1394 | 1401 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| Neither model has a result on the other 32 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 13.4 | 11.1 | 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 index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 46.5% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index03
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 73.3% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 7.0% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1364 | 1379 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1359 | 1370 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1385 | 1388 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | Not measured | 43.0% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 80.7 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 80.7% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1359 | 1396 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1369 | 1396 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 81.5% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1382 | 1407 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1386 | 1402 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1359 | 1382 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1369 | 1371 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | Not measured | 1146 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | Not measured | 1123 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | Not measured | 1094 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | Not measured | 1186 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 1123 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | Not measured | 1137 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | Not measured | 1071 | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index017
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 37.6% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 46.7% | Only GLM 4.5 Air measured |
| LMArena Text | 1362 | 1384 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1335 | 1354 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1292 | 1343 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: English | 1385 | 1397 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1337 | 1366 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1364 | 1426 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: German | 1343 | 1377 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1273 | 1348 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1281 | 1308 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: French | 1381 | 1400 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1375 | 1385 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1342 | 1373 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1327 | 1368 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1338 | 1371 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1335 | 1366 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1318 | 1354 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1309 | 1339 | GLM 4.5 Air |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | GLM 4.5 Air | 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
GLM 4.5 Air costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
GLM 4.5 Air costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
GLM 4.5 Air 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 | Z.ai GLM 4.5 Air |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | Z.ai |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 2, 2025 | July 25, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M | 131K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.20 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $1.10 |
| 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 GLM 4.5 Air 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 131K tokens) and work measured by LMArena Text: coding or LMArena Text: software and IT, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Nova 2 Lite or GLM 4.5 Air?
Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; GLM 4.5 Air costs $0.20 and $1.10. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or GLM 4.5 Air?
Nova 2 Lite, with 1M tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks is the Nova 2 Lite vs GLM 4.5 Air comparison based on?
29 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Nova 2 Lite's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and GLM 4.5 Air's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.