Aion-2.0 vs Grok Build 0.1 vs Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite comes out ahead, 61 to 53 and 39 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Aion Labs
Aion-2.0
39/100- ECI—
- Price$0.80 / $1.60
- Context131K
xAIGrok Build 0.1
53/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.00
- Context256K
- Our pick
AmazonNova 2 Lite
61/100- ECI—
- Price$0.315 / $2.63
- Context1M
Nova 2 Lite is our pick
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Grok Build 0.1 (53) and Aion-2.0 (39). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceNova 2 LiteNova 2 Lite $0.892 · Aion-2.0 $1.00 · Grok Build 0.1 $1.25 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNova 2 LiteNova 2 Lite 1,000,000 · Grok Build 0.1 256,000 · Aion-2.0 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsNova 2 LiteAion-2.0: Text · Grok Build 0.1: Text, Images, PDFs · Nova 2 Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Aion-2.0 | Grok Build 0.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 48 | 43 | 50 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 36 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 39/100 | 53/100 | 61/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Aion-2.0Aion Labs | Grok Build 0.1xAI | Nova 2 LiteAmazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.80 | $1.00 | $0.315 (best) |
| Output | $1.60 (best) | $2.00 | $2.63 |
| Cached input | — | $0.20 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.00 | $1.25 | $0.892 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 200K: $2.00 / $4.00 | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | Official xAI API | Median of 6 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 256,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 256,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | grok-build-0.1 | nova-2-lite-v1 |
| API providers | 3 | 20 (best) | 8 |
| Released | Dec 21, 2025 | Apr 16, 2026 | Dec 2, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | Oct 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Aion-2.0$11.20
- Grok Build 0.1$14.00
- Nova 2 Lite$8.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Aion-2.0, Grok Build 0.1 or Nova 2 Lite?
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Grok Build 0.1 (53) and Aion-2.0 (39). It leads on price and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Aion-2.0, Grok Build 0.1 or Nova 2 Lite?
Nova 2 Lite is cheaper at $0.315 input / $2.63 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers; free on Nova). Aion-2.0 costs $0.80 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers); Grok Build 0.1 costs $1.00 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official xAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.892 per million tokens for Nova 2 Lite versus $1.00 for Aion-2.0 (1.1× as much) and $1.25 for Grok Build 0.1 (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Aion-2.0 has not been scored yet, Grok Build 0.1 has not been scored yet and Nova 2 Lite has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Aion-2.0, Grok Build 0.1 and Nova 2 Lite yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Nova 2 Lite has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 256,000 for Grok Build 0.1 and 131,072 for Aion-2.0. Maximum output per response: Aion-2.0 up to 32,768, Grok Build 0.1 up to 256,000, Nova 2 Lite up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Aion-2.0 accepts text; Grok Build 0.1 accepts text, images and PDFs; Nova 2 Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Nova 2 Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Aion-2.0, Grok Build 0.1 and Nova 2 Lite are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Grok Build 0.1 is the newest, released Apr 16, 2026. Aion-2.0 came out Dec 21, 2025; Nova 2 Lite came out Dec 2, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Nova 2 Lite Oct 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
