Aion-3.0-Mini vs Nova 2 Lite vs Seed 2.1 Turbo
Nova 2 Lite comes out ahead, 61 to 56 and 41 on our weighted score.
Aion Labs
Aion-3.0-Mini
41/100- ECI—
- Price$0.70 / $1.40
- Context131K
- Our pick
AmazonNova 2 Lite
61/100- ECI—
- Price$0.315 / $2.63
- Context1M
ByteDance SeedSeed 2.1 Turbo
56/100- ECI—
- Price$0.445 / $2.23
- Context256K
Nova 2 Lite is our pick
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Seed 2.1 Turbo (56) and Aion-3.0-Mini (41). It leads on 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 priceAion-3.0-MiniAion-3.0-Mini $0.875 · Seed 2.1 Turbo $0.891 · Nova 2 Lite $0.892 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNova 2 LiteNova 2 Lite 1,000,000 · Seed 2.1 Turbo 256,000 · Aion-3.0-Mini 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsNova 2 LiteAion-3.0-Mini: Text · Nova 2 Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · Seed 2.1 Turbo: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Aion-3.0-Mini | Nova 2 Lite | Seed 2.1 Turbo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 60 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 41/100 | 61/100 | 56/100 |
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-3.0-MiniAion Labs | Nova 2 LiteAmazon | Seed 2.1 TurboByteDance Seed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.70 | $0.315 (best) | $0.445 |
| Output | $1.40 (best) | $2.63 | $2.23 |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.089 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.875 (best) | $0.892 | $0.891 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 4 providers | Median of 6 providers | Official Volcengine Ark API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 65,536 tokens | 256,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | nova-2-lite-v1 | doubao-seed-2-1-turbo-260628 |
| API providers | 4 | 8 (best) | 8 (best) |
| Released | May 14, 2026 | Dec 2, 2025 | Jun 23, 2026 |
| 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-3.0-Mini$9.80
- Nova 2 Lite$8.40
- Seed 2.1 Turbo$8.91
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Aion-3.0-Mini, Nova 2 Lite or Seed 2.1 Turbo?
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Seed 2.1 Turbo (56) and Aion-3.0-Mini (41). It leads on 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-3.0-Mini, Nova 2 Lite or Seed 2.1 Turbo?
Aion-3.0-Mini is cheaper at $0.70 input / $1.40 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). Seed 2.1 Turbo costs $0.445 input / $2.23 output per million tokens (official Volcengine Ark API price); Nova 2 Lite costs $0.315 input / $2.63 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers; free on Nova). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.875 per million tokens for Aion-3.0-Mini versus $0.891 for Seed 2.1 Turbo (1× as much) and $0.892 for Nova 2 Lite (1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Aion-3.0-Mini has not been scored yet, Nova 2 Lite has not been scored yet and Seed 2.1 Turbo has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Aion-3.0-Mini, Nova 2 Lite and Seed 2.1 Turbo 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 Seed 2.1 Turbo and 131,072 for Aion-3.0-Mini. Maximum output per response: Aion-3.0-Mini up to 32,768, Nova 2 Lite up to 65,536, Seed 2.1 Turbo up to 256,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Aion-3.0-Mini accepts text; Nova 2 Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video; Seed 2.1 Turbo accepts text, images and video. Nova 2 Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Aion-3.0-Mini, Nova 2 Lite and Seed 2.1 Turbo are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Seed 2.1 Turbo is the newest, released Jun 23, 2026. Aion-3.0-Mini came out May 14, 2026; 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.
