| Signal | Nova Lite 1.0 | Delta | Sonar |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 50 | -- | |
Pricing | 100 | +1 | |
Context window size | 87 | +6 | |
Recency | 38 | -10 | |
Output Capacity | 62 | +42 | |
| Overall Result | 3 wins | of 5 | 1 wins |
Score History
40
current score
Tied
right now
40
current score
Amazon
Perplexity
Nova Lite 1.0 saves you $132.00/month
That's $1584.00/year compared to Sonar at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Nova Lite 1.0 | Sonar | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 40 | 40 | -- |
| Rank | #299 | #297 | Sonar |
| Quality Rank | #299 | #297 | Sonar |
| Adoption Rank | #299 | #297 | Sonar |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 300K | 127K | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| Pricing | $0.06/$0.24/M | $1.00/$1.00/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 50 | 50 | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| Pricing | 100 | 99 | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| Context window size | 87 | 81 | Nova Lite 1.0 |
| Recency | 38 | 48 | Sonar |
| Output Capacity | 62 | 20 | Nova Lite 1.0 |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 40/100 (rank #299), placing it in the top -3% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 40/100 (rank #297), placing it in the top -2% of all 290 models tracked.
With only a 0-point gap, these models are in the same performance tier. The practical difference in output quality is minimal - your choice should depend on pricing, latency requirements, and specific feature needs.
Nova Lite 1.0 offers 85% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $4.50/month with Nova Lite 1.0 vs $30.00/month with Sonar - a $25.50 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. Nova Lite 1.0 also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (300K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($0.24/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (40/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
Image understanding & OCR
Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly
Nova Lite 1.0 and Sonar are extremely close in overall performance (only 0 points apart). Your best choice depends entirely on which specific strengths matter most for your use case.
Best for Quality
Nova Lite 1.0
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Nova Lite 1.0
85% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Nova Lite 1.0
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Nova Lite 1.0
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Nova Lite 1.0
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by Amazon
| Capability | Nova Lite 1.0 | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Callingdiffers | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Web Searchdiffers | ||
| Image Output |
Amazon
Perplexity
Nova Lite 1.0 saves you $2.60/month
That's 87% cheaper than Sonar at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | Nova Lite 1.0 | Sonar |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 300K | 127K |
| Max Output Tokens | 5,120 | -- |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Dec 5, 2024 | Jan 27, 2025 |