Nova Micro 1.0 vs Ministral 3 3B 2512
Nova Micro 1.0 leads Ministral 3 3B 2512 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 5.9 to 4.8, and Ministral 3 3B 2512 costs 1.4x less per output token ($0.10 vs $0.14 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 1 benchmarks have a result for both.
Nova Micro 1.0 or Ministral 3 3B 2512: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
- Shared results
- 1
- Nova Micro 1.0 only
- 38
- Ministral 3 3B 2512 only
- 6
- 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
Nova Micro 1.0
Nova Micro 1.0 leads, 5.9 against 4.8.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 has a AA Agentic Index result, 0.8.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1027.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Ministral 3 3B 2512
Ministral 3 3B 2512 takes 131K tokens against 128K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Nova Micro 1.0
Nova Micro 1.0 $0.0001, Ministral 3 3B 2512 $0.0001 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- Nova Micro 1.0 not benchmarked, Ministral 3 3B 2512 not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Intelligence, 1.1 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- AA Intelligence Index: Nova Micro 1.0 5.9 against Ministral 3 3B 2512 4.8, 1.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Nova Micro 1.0 $0.14 against Ministral 3 3B 2512 $0.10 per million output tokens, 1.4x apart.
- Context window
- Nova Micro 1.0 takes 128K tokens, Ministral 3 3B 2512 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 Micro 1.0 | Bars | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 0 |
CodingDirectional onlySix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | Not measured | 4.8 | Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 14.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 1.5% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1218 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1215 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 34 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Nova Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 5.9 | 4.8 | Nova Micro 1.0 |
| 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 Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 0.8 | Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 14.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here | |||
ReasoningDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index5 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 35.8% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 4.6% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1191 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1183 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1203 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 17 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 6.0 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 6.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1206 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1212 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 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 Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 53.1% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| MMLU | 70.8% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1210 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1207 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1221 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1182 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | Not measured | 1027 | Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | Not measured | 948 | Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | Not measured | 962 | Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | Not measured | 1010 | Only Ministral 3 3B 2512 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
GeneralDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index18 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 29.4% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 13.0% | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1208 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1174 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1172 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1224 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1186 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1209 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1192 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1154 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1150 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1238 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1225 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1185 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1178 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1205 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1192 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1163 | Not measured | Only Nova Micro 1.0 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 28 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Nova Micro 1.0 | Ministral 3 3B 2512 | 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 Micro 1.0 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Nova Micro 1.0 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Nova Micro 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 Micro 1.0 | Mistral Ministral 3 3B 2512 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Amazon | Mistral AI |
| Weights | No public weights listed | Open weights |
| Released | December 5, 2024 | December 2, 2025 |
| Context window | 128K | 131K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.035 | $0.10 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.14 | $0.10 |
| 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 Micro 1.0 better than Ministral 3 3B 2512 for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Compare them on price, context and the boards below.
Which is cheaper, Nova Micro 1.0 or Ministral 3 3B 2512?
Nova Micro 1.0 costs $0.035 per million input tokens and $0.14 per million output tokens; Ministral 3 3B 2512 costs $0.10 and $0.10. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, Nova Micro 1.0 or Ministral 3 3B 2512?
Ministral 3 3B 2512, with 131K tokens against 128K.
How many benchmarks is the Nova Micro 1.0 vs Ministral 3 3B 2512 comparison based on?
1 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Nova Micro 1.0's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and Ministral 3 3B 2512's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.