AI model comparison
Command A+ vs Nova 2 Lite
Side by side comparison of Command A+ and Nova 2 Lite on pricing, benchmark scores, context window, and more.
Command A+ is Cohere's flagship model for enterprise agentic workflows.
- Input / 1M
- $0.30
- Output / 1M
- $1.50
- Context
- 192K
Nova 2 Lite is a fast, cost-effective reasoning model for everyday workloads that can process text, images, and videos to generate text.
- Input / 1M
- $0.30
- Output / 1M
- $2.50
- Context
- 1M
Comparing image generators? Compare image models
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
Command A+
1.4x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Nova 2 Lite
13.4 vs 13.1 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Nova 2 Lite
1M vs 192K tokens
Newer release
Command A+
Released September 22, 2026
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Command A+13.1Nova 2 Lite13.4Coding index
Command A+27.8Nova 2 Lite23Agentic index
Command A+1Nova 2 LiteNot availablePricing
Command A+ vs Nova 2 Lite API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Command A+ | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.30 | $0.30 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $1.50 | $2.50 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.15 | Not available |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not available |
What it costs in practice
Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.
Chat message
2K in, 500 out
Command A+$1.35Nova 2 Lite$1.85Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Command A+$15$10.50 cachedNova 2 Lite$19Long document summary
150K in, 2K out
Command A+$48$25.50 cachedNova 2 Lite$50Specs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Command A+ | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 192K tokens | 1M tokens |
| Max output | 64K tokens | 66K tokens |
| Input types | Image, Text | File, Image, Text, Video |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | Not available |
| Release date | September 22, 2026 | December 2, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Command A+ | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Supported | Not supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Not supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Supported | Not supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
Our take
Command A+ is 1.4x cheaper for a typical chat. Nova 2 Lite scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (13.4 vs 13.1). Nova 2 Lite has the larger context window (1M vs 192K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Command A+ or Nova 2 Lite cheaper?
Command A+ is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). Command A+ costs $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $1.50 per 1M output tokens, while Nova 2 Lite costs $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $2.50 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, Command A+ or Nova 2 Lite?
Nova 2 Lite supports up to 1M tokens of context, compared with 192K for Command A+.
Is Command A+ smarter than Nova 2 Lite?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Command A+ scores 13.1 and Nova 2 Lite scores 13.4, putting Nova 2 Lite ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Command A+ and Nova 2 Lite at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Command A+ and Nova 2 Lite answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Command A+ and Nova 2 Lite at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.