API cost decision in 10 seconds

R1 0528 vs Nova 2 Lite

Pick Nova 2 Lite when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Nova 2 Lite when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova 2 Lite is estimated at $1.55 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $0.02 (1.6% lower).

Cost-first pickNova 2 Lite

Context-first pickNova 2 Lite

Sample savings$0.021.6%

10x traffic gap$0.25

Nova 2 Lite is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Nova 2 Lite, balanced workload favors R1 0528, and output-heavy chatbot favors R1 0528.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	R1 0528	Nova 2 Lite
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Nova 2 Lite	$3.58	$2.75
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	R1 0528	$2.65	$2.8
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	R1 0528	$11.25	$12.8

Cheaper input Nova 2 Lite $0.5 vs $0.3 / 1M

Nova 2 Lite is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).

Cheaper output R1 0528 $2.15 vs $2.5 / 1M

R1 0528 is $0.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (14% lower; 1.16x difference).

Larger context Nova 2 Lite 163.84K vs 1M

Nova 2 Lite has 836.16K more context (6.1x larger).

Sample workload Nova 2 Lite $1.57 vs $1.55

Nova 2 Lite is $0.02 cheaper on the standard workload (1.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

R1 0528 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Nova 2 Lite Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Nova 2 Lite has the lower input price; R1 0528 has the lower output price; Nova 2 Lite offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Nova 2 Lite is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.57 for R1 0528 and $1.55 for Nova 2 Lite.

Best Fit

Choose R1 0528 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Choose Nova 2 Lite when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova 2 Lite is estimated at $1.55 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $0.02 (1.6% lower).
Nova 2 Lite is $0.02 cheaper on the standard workload (1.6% lower).
Nova 2 Lite is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).
R1 0528 is $0.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (14% lower; 1.16x difference).
Nova 2 Lite has 836.16K more context (6.1x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	R1 0528 (DeepSeek)	Nova 2 Lite (Amazon)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.5	$0.3
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.15	$2.5
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.57	$1.55
Context Window	163.84K	1M
Release Date	2025-05-28	2025-12-02
Popularity	#106	#149

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Nova 2 Lite	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nova 2 Lite is estimated at $1.55 vs $1.57 for R1 0528, saving $0.02 (1.6% lower).
High-volume input processing	Nova 2 Lite	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	R1 0528	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Nova 2 Lite	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
DeepSeek V3.2 can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.44.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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DeepSeek catalog

Review all tracked DeepSeek models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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Amazon catalog

Check other Amazon models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Amazon models

R1 0528

May 28th update to the [original DeepSeek R1](/deepseek/deepseek-r1) Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 671B parameters in size, with 37B active...

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. Nova 2 Lite demonstrates standout capabilities in processing...