Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools vs Nova 2 Lite
| Signal | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | Delta | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 100 | +33 | |
Benchmarks | 92 | +33 | |
Pricing | 88 | -9 | |
Context window size | 96 | +0 | |
Recency | 100 | +13 | |
Output Capacity | 80 | -- | |
| Overall Result | 4 wins | of 6 | 1 wins |
Score History
92.2
current score
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
right now
60.5
current score
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Nova 2 Lite
Amazon
Nova 2 Lite saves you $645.00/month
That's $7740.00/year compared to Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | Nova 2 Lite | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 92 | 61 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Rank | #15 | #207 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Quality Rank | #15 | #207 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Adoption Rank | #15 | #207 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 1049K | 1000K | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Pricing | $2.00/$12.00/M | $0.30/$2.50/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 100 | 67 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Benchmarks | 92 | 58 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Pricing | 88 | 98 | Nova 2 Lite |
| Context window size | 96 | 95 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Recency | 100 | 88 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
| Output Capacity | 80 | 80 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools |
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 92/100 (rank #15), placing it in the top 95% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 61/100 (rank #207), placing it in the top 29% of all 290 models tracked.
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools has a 32-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably stronger performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools when you need:
- Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
Choose Nova 2 Lite when you need:
- High-volume production workloads where API costs must be minimized
- Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
Nova 2 Lite offers 80% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $42.00/month with Nova 2 Lite vs $210.00/month with Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools - a $168.00 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 2 Lite also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (1049K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($2.50/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (92/100) 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
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools clearly outperforms Nova 2 Lite with a significant 31.700000000000003-point lead. For most general use cases, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools is the stronger choice. However, Nova 2 Lite may still excel in niche scenarios.
By Use Case
Best for Quality
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
Nova 2 Lite
80% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by Google
- Choose for Quality - Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
- Choose for Reliability - Higher uptime and faster response speeds
- Choose for Prototyping - Stronger community support and better developer experience
- Choose for Production - Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
| Capability | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Modediffers | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Web Searchdiffers | ||
| Image Output |
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools
Nova 2 Lite
Amazon
Nova 2 Lite saves you $14.46/month
That's 80% cheaper than Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools 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 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom Tools | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 1.0M | 1M |
| Max Output Tokens | 65,536 | 65,535 |
| Open Source | No | No |
| Created | Feb 25, 2026 | Dec 2, 2025 |