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Nova 2 Lite vs o3 Mini

Updated October 21, 2026. 29 benchmarks have a result for both. Coding is ranked on the Vibe Coding Index; every other board is shown as published.

Replace Nova 2 Lite Replace o3 Mini
Nova 2 LiteAmazon
Coding
No data
Overall
13.4
Output $/M
$2.50
20
o3 MiniOpenAI
Coding
No data
Overall
12.5
Output $/M
$4.40
9
vs boards won of 29 shared

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 1.8x less, and where the context window is larger, 1M against 200K tokens.

Model ANova 2 LiteAmazonNot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved taskModel Bo3 MiniOpenAINot benchmarkedNo coding benchmarkNo cost per solved task
Shared results
29
Nova 2 Lite only
2
o3 Mini only
41
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.

At a glance

Coding index
Nova 2 Lite not benchmarked, o3 Mini not benchmarked.
Widest category
Knowledge, 7.7 points apart on average over 4 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare: Nova 2 Lite 1386 against o3 Mini 1330, 9.3 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Nova 2 Lite $2.50 against o3 Mini $4.40 per million output tokens, 1.8x apart.
Context window
Nova 2 Lite takes 1M tokens, o3 Mini 200K.

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.

Boards won, where both have a result
CategoryNova 2 LiteBarso3 MiniTies
Coding20
Intelligence10
Reasoning12
Math02
Knowledge40
General125
All shared boards209
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index20
Coding benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
Aider polyglotNot measured60.4%Only o3 Mini measured
SWE-bench VerifiedNot measured42.4%Only o3 Mini measured
SWE-bench LiteNot measured32.3%Only o3 Mini measured
AA Coding Index23.0Not measuredOnly Nova 2 Lite measured
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)Not measured71.5%Only o3 Mini measured
LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured73.4%Only o3 Mini measured
SciCodeNot measured42.8%Only o3 Mini measured
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured6.8%Only o3 Mini measured
GSO-BenchNot measured1.3%Only o3 Mini measured
WeirdMLNot measured43.7%Only o3 Mini measured
CybenchNot measured22.5%Only o3 Mini measured
ALE-Bench236.3Not measuredOnly Nova 2 Lite measured
LMArena Text: coding13851378Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: software and IT13941364Nova 2 Lite
Neither model has a result on the other 24 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
Intelligence benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
AA Intelligence Index13.412.5Nova 2 Lite
Epoch Capabilities IndexNot measured140.2Only o3 Mini measured
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
Agentic work benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
τ²-Bench TelecomNot measured31.3%Only o3 Mini measured
Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index12
Reasoning benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
GPQA DiamondNot measured75.5%Only o3 Mini measured
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured77.3%Only o3 Mini measured
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured12.0%Only o3 Mini measured
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)Not measured77.0%Only o3 Mini measured
ARC-AGINot measured34.5%Only o3 Mini measured
ARC-AGI-2Not measured3.0%Only o3 Mini measured
SimpleBenchNot measured22.8%Only o3 Mini measured
Chess puzzlesNot measured15.0%Only o3 Mini measured
Mystery game puzzlesNot measured7.0%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts13641365o3 Mini
LMArena Text: expert13591364o3 Mini
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English13851375Nova 2 Lite
Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
Math benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
AIMENot measured86.5%Only o3 Mini measured
MATH 500 (Vals AI)Not measured91.8%Only o3 Mini measured
MGSM (Vals AI)Not measured91.3%Only o3 Mini measured
OTIS Mock AIMENot measured76.9%Only o3 Mini measured
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3Not measured18.6%Only o3 Mini measured
FrontierMath, tier 4Not measured0.0%Only o3 Mini measured
MATH level 5Not measured96.5%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: math13591396o3 Mini
LMArena Text: mathematical work13691399o3 Mini
Neither model has a result on the other 4 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index40
Knowledge benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
MMLU ProNot measured78.7%Only o3 Mini measured
LegalBench (Vals AI)Not measured71.5%Only o3 Mini measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)Not measured45.3%Only o3 Mini measured
TaxEval (Vals AI)Not measured69.4%Only o3 Mini measured
MedQA (Vals AI)Not measured94.8%Only o3 Mini measured
MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run)Not measured80.2%Only o3 Mini measured
SimpleQA VerifiedNot measured15.3%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text: science13821339Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare13861330Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: legal and government13591328Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: business and finance13691313Nova 2 Lite
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Web design benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
Neither model has a result on 9 boards here
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index125
General benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
IFBenchNot measured67.1%Only o3 Mini measured
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)Not measured43.0%Only o3 Mini measured
DTBenchNot measured68.8%Only o3 Mini measured
LMCANot measured19.0%Only o3 Mini measured
Fiction.LiveBenchNot measured50.0%Only o3 Mini measured
Creative writing (Lech Mazur)Not measured61.7%Only o3 Mini measured
LMArena Text13621337Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: instruction following13351337o3 Mini
LMArena Text: creative writing12921286Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: English13851351Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: non-English13371319Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: Chinese13641379o3 Mini
LMArena Text: German13431303Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: Japanese12731286o3 Mini
LMArena Text: Korean12811313o3 Mini
LMArena Text: French13811334Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: Spanish13751321Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: Russian13421304Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: Polish13271294Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: multi-turn13381320Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: longer queries13351343o3 Mini
LMArena Text: writing and language13181313Nova 2 Lite
LMArena Text: entertainment and media13091283Nova 2 Lite
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
Image generation benchmarks for Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
BenchmarkNova 2 Liteo3 MiniLeader
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$0.0015Fits in one request
o3 Mini$0.0033Fits in one request

Nova 2 Lite costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Nova 2 Lite$0.022Fits in one request
o3 Mini$0.068Fits in one request

Nova 2 Lite costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Nova 2 Lite$0.085Fits in one request
o3 Mini$0.264Exceeds the context window

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.

Specifications of Nova 2 Lite and o3 Mini
SpecificationAmazon Nova 2 LiteOpenAI o3 Mini
MakerAmazonOpenAI
WeightsNo public weights listedNo public weights listed
ReleasedDecember 2, 2025January 31, 2025
Context window1M200K
Input $/Mtok$0.30$1.10
Output $/Mtok$2.50$4.40
Coding indexNot benchmarkedNot benchmarked
Independent measurements behind it00
Cost per solved taskNot computableNot computable
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Nova 2 Lite better than o3 Mini 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 1.8x less, and where the context window is larger, 1M against 200K tokens.

Which is cheaper, Nova 2 Lite or o3 Mini?

Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; o3 Mini costs $1.10 and $4.40. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.

Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or o3 Mini?

Nova 2 Lite, with 1M tokens against 200K.

How many benchmarks is the Nova 2 Lite vs o3 Mini 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 o3 Mini's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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