Nova 2 Lite vs DeepSeek R1
At a Glance
| Compare |  Nova 2 LiteAmazon |  DeepSeek R1DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.30Amazon Bedrock ↗ · Aug 29, 2026 | $0.70Openrouter ↗ · Aug 28, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $2.50Amazon Bedrock ↗ · Aug 29, 2026 | $2.50Openrouter ↗ · Aug 28, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 1,000K | 164K |
| Model facts checked | Aug 29, 2026View model evidence → | Aug 28, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek-R1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · statistical tie | 1,362.6299% of row best · rating · nova-2-lite; 95% CI [1356.54933238, 1368.69109380]; votes 12120; rank 182 | 1,372.60100% of row best · rating · deepseek-r1; 95% CI [1367.75270193, 1377.44238946]; votes 18524; rank 168 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above · 1 tie | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek-R1 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Amazon | DeepSeek |
| Family | Nova 2 | Deepseek R1 |
| Model | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek-R1 |
| Version | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek-R1 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2025-12-02 | 2025-01-20 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-10-01 | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Video, Document | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,000K | 164K |
| Total parameters | Unknown | 684.5B |
| Active parameters | Unknown | 37B |
| License | Unknown | mit |
| Open weights | No | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
| Provider access | Amazon Bedrock (Standard) | Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, prompt-caching, tools, vision | chat, generation, reasoning |
Nova 2 Lite Capabilities
DeepSeek R1 Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs |  GPT-6 AstraOpenAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
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Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs |  Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle DeepMind | cross-developer peerstext |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs | DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs | Grok 4.6xAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peersimage, text, video |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs |  Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | Nova 2 LiteAmazon | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | cross-developer peersimage, text, video |
Nova 2 LiteAmazon | vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Nova 2 Lite vs DeepSeek R1 FAQs
Is Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Nova 2 Lite and DeepSeek R1, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1?+
Nova 2 Lite is $0.30 and DeepSeek R1 is $0.70 per million tokens, so Nova 2 Lite is cheaper on this metric. Nova 2 Lite is $2.50 and DeepSeek R1 is $2.50 per million tokens, so they are tied on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1?+
Nova 2 Lite has the larger sourced context window. Nova 2 Lite supports 1,000K and DeepSeek R1 supports 164K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1 be self-hosted?+
DeepSeek R1 is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Nova 2 Lite is not marked open weight; DeepSeek R1 is open weight.
Can Nova 2 Lite and DeepSeek R1 understand images?+
Nova 2 Lite is documented with image input; DeepSeek R1 is not documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1?+
Nova 2 Lite has the larger sourced maximum output: Nova 2 Lite supports 66K and DeepSeek R1 supports 33K output tokens.
Do Nova 2 Lite and DeepSeek R1 support reasoning and tool use?+
Nova 2 Lite: tool calling and image input. DeepSeek R1: reasoning. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1?+
Nova 2 Lite has 1 sourced provider route; DeepSeek R1 has 2, so DeepSeek R1 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek R1?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.