AI model comparison
Nova 2 Lite vs DeepSeek V3.1
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
Amazon
Nova 2 Lite
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
DeepSeek
DeepSeek V3.1
DeepSeek-V3.1 is a large hybrid reasoning model (671B parameters, 37B active) that supports both thinking and non-thinking modes via prompt templates.
- Input / 1M
- $0.25
- Output / 1M
- $0.95
- Context
- 164K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
DeepSeek V3.1
1.9x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
DeepSeek V3.1
13.7 vs 13.4 on Artificial Analysis
Larger context window
Nova 2 Lite
1M vs 164K tokens
Newer release
Nova 2 Lite
Released December 2, 2025
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Nova 2 Lite13.4DeepSeek V3.113.7Coding index
Nova 2 Lite23DeepSeek V3.1Not availableAgentic index
Nova 2 LiteNot availableDeepSeek V3.1Not availablePricing
Nova 2 Lite vs DeepSeek V3.1 API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.30 | $0.25 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $2.50 | $0.95 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | Not available | $0.13 |
| 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
Nova 2 Lite$1.85DeepSeek V3.1$0.98Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Nova 2 Lite$19DeepSeek V3.1$11.30$7.70 cachedLong document summary
150K in, 2K out
Nova 2 Lite$50DeepSeek V3.1$39.40$21.40 cachedSpecs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 1M tokens | 164K tokens |
| Max output | 66K tokens | 33K tokens |
| Input types | File, Image, Text, Video | Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Not available | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Not available | Not available |
| Release date | December 2, 2025 | August 21, 2025 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | Nova 2 Lite | DeepSeek V3.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Not supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Not supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Not supported | 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.
DeepSeek V3.1View full model details- DeepSeek V3.1 vs Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs Gemma 4 31B
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs GPT-5 Nano
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs DeepSeek V3.2 Exp
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs DeepSeek V3 0324
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs GLM 4.7 Flash
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs Mercury 2
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs R1 0528
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs Nemotron 3 Super
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs R1
- DeepSeek V3.1 vs GLM 4.6V
Our take
DeepSeek V3.1 is 1.9x cheaper for a typical chat. DeepSeek V3.1 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (13.7 vs 13.4). Nova 2 Lite has the larger context window (1M vs 164K 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 Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek V3.1 cheaper?
DeepSeek V3.1 is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). DeepSeek V3.1 costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $0.95 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, Nova 2 Lite or DeepSeek V3.1?
Nova 2 Lite supports up to 1M tokens of context, compared with 164K for DeepSeek V3.1.
Is Nova 2 Lite smarter than DeepSeek V3.1?
On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Nova 2 Lite scores 13.4 and DeepSeek V3.1 scores 13.7, putting DeepSeek V3.1 ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.
Can I use Nova 2 Lite and DeepSeek V3.1 at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Nova 2 Lite and DeepSeek V3.1 answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to Nova 2 Lite and DeepSeek V3.1 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.