Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is free for input tokens while Nova 2 Lite costs $0.3 per 1M tokens.
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) vs Nova 2 Lite
Pick Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) for lower cost; pick Nova 2 Lite only if the larger context window matters more.
Page updated:
Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) for lower cost; pick Nova 2 Lite only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is estimated at $0 vs $1.55 for Nova 2 Lite, saving $1.55 (100% lower).
Cost-first pickNemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free)
Context-first pickNova 2 Lite
Sample savings$1.55100%
10x traffic gap$15.5
Nova 2 Lite has more context, but Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) saves $1.55 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $15.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | $0 | $2.75 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | $0 | $2.8 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | $0 | $12.8 |
Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is free for output tokens while Nova 2 Lite costs $2.5 per 1M tokens.
Nova 2 Lite has 872K more context (7.81x larger).
Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $1.55.
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) has the lower input price; Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) has the lower output price; Nova 2 Lite offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0 for Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) and $1.55 for Nova 2 Lite.
Choose Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose Nova 2 Lite when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is estimated at $0 vs $1.55 for Nova 2 Lite, saving $1.55 (100% lower).
- Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $1.55.
- Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is free for input tokens while Nova 2 Lite costs $0.3 per 1M tokens.
- Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is free for output tokens while Nova 2 Lite costs $2.5 per 1M tokens.
- Nova 2 Lite has 872K more context (7.81x larger).
| Feature | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) (NVIDIA) | Nova 2 Lite (Amazon) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0 | $0.3 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0 | $2.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0 | $1.55 |
| Context Window | 128K | 1M |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #128 | #149 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) is estimated at $0 vs $1.55 for Nova 2 Lite, saving $1.55 (100% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | 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
- Nova Micro 1.0 can replace Nova 2 Lite when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.11.
- Nova Lite 1.0 can replace Nova 2 Lite when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.18.
- 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.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.
Open largest context modelsProvider catalogs
Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.
Open provider hubsNVIDIA catalog
Review all tracked NVIDIA models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open NVIDIA modelsAmazon catalog
Check other Amazon models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Amazon modelsNVIDIA Nemotron Nano 2 VL is a 12-billion-parameter open multimodal reasoning model designed for video understanding and document intelligence. It introduces a hybrid Transformer-Mamba architecture, combining transformer-level accuracy with Mamba’s...
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...