Nova Lite 1.0 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct leads Nova Lite 1.0 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 7.3 to 6.7, and Nova Lite 1.0 costs 3.1x less per output token ($0.24 vs $0.75 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 11 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nova Lite 1.0 or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct: 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 3.1x cheaper ($0.24 vs $0.75 per million) and a larger context window (300K against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 11
- Nova Lite 1.0 only
- 30
- Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct only
- 0
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 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
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct
Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct leads, 7.3 against 6.7.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nova Lite 1.0
Nova Lite 1.0 $0.0002, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova Lite 1.0 not benchmarked, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Math, 23.7 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- AA Math Index: Nova Lite 1.0 7.0 against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 30.7, 23.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova Lite 1.0 $0.24 against Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct $0.75 per million output tokens, 3.1x apart.
- Context window
- Nova Lite 1.0 takes 300K tokens, Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 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 Lite 1.0 | Bars | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 2 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 1 | ||
| Math | 0 | 2 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 1 | ||
| General | 0 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 10 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index02
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 16.7% | 35.3% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 0.8% | 3.8% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| 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 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 6.7 | 7.3 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 17.5% | 29.2% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 43.3% | 57.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.3% | 3.8% | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| 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 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 7.0 | 30.7 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 7.0% | 30.7% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| 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 | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 59.0% | 74.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| 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 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 9 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Nova Lite 1.0 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 34.1% | 39.9% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 19.0% | 33.3% | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
| 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 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct | 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 | Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | Qwen |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 5, 2024 | October 14, 2025 |
| Context window | 300K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.06 | $0.25 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.24 | $0.75 |
| 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 Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct 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 3.1x cheaper ($0.24 vs $0.75 per million) and a larger context window (300K against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Nova Lite 1.0 or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Nova Lite 1.0 costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.24 per million output tokens; Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct costs $0.25 and $0.75. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova Lite 1.0 or Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct?
Nova Lite 1.0, with 300K tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Nova Lite 1.0 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct comparison based on?
11 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Nova Lite 1.0's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.