Nova 2 Lite vs Mistral Small 4
Updated October 21, 2026. 3 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 the context window is larger, 1M against 262K tokens, and where what matters is AA Coding Index or ALE-Bench, where it leads.
- Shared results
- 3
- Nova 2 Lite only
- 28
- Mistral Small 4 only
- 11
- Like-for-like categories
- 2 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 11.3.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Mistral Small 4 has a AA Agentic Index result, 0.8.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Mistral Small 4
Nova 2 Lite $0.0015, Mistral Small 4 $0.0004 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova 2 Lite not benchmarked, Mistral Small 4 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Coding, 6.2 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- ALE-Bench: Nova 2 Lite 236.3 against Mistral Small 4 497.6, 8.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova 2 Lite $2.50 against Mistral Small 4 $0.60 per million output tokens, 4.2x apart.
- Context window
- Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens, Mistral Small 4 262K.
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 | Mistral Small 4 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 2 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 2 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index02
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 23.0 | 26.6 | Mistral Small 4 |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 0.0% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 38.8% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 17.4% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| ALE-Bench | 236.3 | 497.6 | Mistral Small 4 |
| 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 | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 13.4 | 11.3 | 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 index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 0.8 | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 41.2% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 76.9% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 9.9% | Only Mistral Small 4 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 16 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 11 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | 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 13 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index21 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | Not measured | 48.2% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | Not measured | 49.7% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 70.9% | Only Mistral Small 4 measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 20.6% | Only Mistral Small 4 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 25 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | Mistral Small 4 | 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
Mistral Small 4 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Mistral Small 4 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Mistral Small 4 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 | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | Mistral AI |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 2, 2025 | March 16, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.30 | $0.15 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $0.60 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Nova 2 Lite better than Mistral Small 4 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Nova 2 Lite has the edge where the context window is larger, 1M against 262K tokens, and where what matters is AA Coding Index or ALE-Bench, where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Nova 2 Lite or Mistral Small 4?
Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Mistral Small 4 costs $0.15 and $0.60. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or Mistral Small 4?
Nova 2 Lite, with 1M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Nova 2 Lite vs Mistral Small 4 comparison based on?
3 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Nova 2 Lite's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Mistral Small 4's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.