Nova Lite 1.0 vs Hermes 4 405B
Hermes 4 405B leads Nova Lite 1.0 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 7.5 to 6.7, and Nova Lite 1.0 costs 12.5x less per output token ($0.24 vs $3.00 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 1 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nova Lite 1.0 or Hermes 4 405B: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Nova Lite 1.0 for output tokens 12.5x cheaper ($0.24 vs $3.00 per million) and a larger context window (300K against 131K tokens).
- Shared results
- 1
- Nova Lite 1.0 only
- 40
- Hermes 4 405B only
- 1
- 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
Hermes 4 405B
Hermes 4 405B leads, 7.5 against 6.7.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens against 131K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 $0.0002, Hermes 4 405B $0.0025 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova Lite 1.0 not benchmarked, Hermes 4 405B not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 0.8 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- AA Intelligence Index: Nova Lite 1.0 6.7 against Hermes 4 405B 7.5, 0.8 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova Lite 1.0 $0.24 against Hermes 4 405B $3.00 per million output tokens, 12.5x apart.
- Context window
- Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens, Hermes 4 405B 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 Lite 1.0 | Bars | Hermes 4 405B | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 1 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 16.7% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 0.8% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1239 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1241 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 6.7 | 7.5 | Hermes 4 405B |
| 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 Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 17.5% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 43.3% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.3% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1220 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1201 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1226 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | Not measured | 55.8% | Only Hermes 4 405B measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 7.0 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 7.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1227 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1235 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 59.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| MMLU | 77.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1232 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1213 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1238 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1219 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
Web designNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 34.1% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 19.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1229 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1205 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1197 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Vision | 990 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1243 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1208 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1225 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1229 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1153 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1153 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1238 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1226 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1216 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1199 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1234 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1211 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1176 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Vision: English | 999 | Not measured | Only Nova Lite 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 26 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Hermes 4 405B | 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
Nova Lite 1.0 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0 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 Lite 1.0 | Nous Hermes 4 405B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | Nous Research |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 5, 2024 | August 26, 2025 |
| Context window | 300K | 131K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.06 | $1.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.24 | $3.00 |
| 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 Lite 1.0 better than Hermes 4 405B for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Nova Lite 1.0 for output tokens 12.5x cheaper ($0.24 vs $3.00 per million) and a larger context window (300K against 131K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Nova Lite 1.0 or Hermes 4 405B?
Nova Lite 1.0 costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.24 per million output tokens; Hermes 4 405B costs $1.00 and $3.00. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova Lite 1.0 or Hermes 4 405B?
Nova Lite 1.0, with 300K tokens against 131K.
How many benchmarks is the Nova Lite 1.0 vs Hermes 4 405B comparison based on?
1 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Nova Lite 1.0's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Hermes 4 405B's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.