Aya Expanse 32B vs Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite vs Hermes 3 70B Instruct
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 82 to 32 and 32 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
CohereAya Expanse 32B
32/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $1.50
- Context128K
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
82/100- ECI—
- Price$0.064 / $0.255
- Context1.05M
Nous ResearchHermes 3 70B Instruct
32/100- ECI—
- Price$0.70 / $0.70
- Context131K
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is our pick
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Hermes 3 70B Instruct (32) and Aya Expanse 32B (32). It leads on price, inputs & features 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 priceGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite $0.111 · Hermes 3 70B Instruct $0.70 · Aya Expanse 32B $0.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Hermes 3 70B Instruct 131,072 · Aya Expanse 32B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteAya Expanse 32B: Text · Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Hermes 3 70B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingAya Expanse 32B and Hermes 3 70B InstructPublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
| Measure | Weight | Aya Expanse 32B | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Hermes 3 70B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 53 | 91 | 55 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 80 | 0 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 61 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 32/100 | 82/100 | 32/100 |
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 | Aya Expanse 32BCohere | Gemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGoogle | Hermes 3 70B InstructNous Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.50 | $0.064 (best) | $0.70 |
| Output | $1.50 | $0.255 (best) | $0.70 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.75 | $0.111 (best) | $0.70 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Cohere API | Median of 2 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 4,000 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | Yes | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | No |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenCC-BY-NC-4.0 | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | c4ai-aya-expanse-32b | — | — |
| API providers | 2 | 3 | 5 (best) |
| Released | Oct 24, 2024 | Dec 11, 2024 | Aug 18, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jun 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Aya Expanse 32B$8.00
- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite$1.15
- Hermes 3 70B Instruct$8.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Aya Expanse 32B, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite or Hermes 3 70B Instruct?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Hermes 3 70B Instruct (32) and Aya Expanse 32B (32). It leads on price, inputs & features 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, Aya Expanse 32B, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite or Hermes 3 70B Instruct?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is cheaper at $0.064 input / $0.255 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Hermes 3 70B Instruct costs $0.70 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); Aya Expanse 32B costs $0.50 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.111 per million tokens for Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite versus $0.70 for Hermes 3 70B Instruct (6.3× as much) and $0.75 for Aya Expanse 32B (6.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Aya Expanse 32B has not been scored yet, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet and Hermes 3 70B Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Aya Expanse 32B, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Hermes 3 70B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Aya Expanse 32B and Hermes 3 70B Instruct does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 131,072 for Hermes 3 70B Instruct and 128,000 for Aya Expanse 32B. Maximum output per response: Aya Expanse 32B up to 4,000, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite up to 8,192, Hermes 3 70B Instruct up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Aya Expanse 32B accepts text; Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Hermes 3 70B Instruct accepts text. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Aya Expanse 32B and Hermes 3 70B Instruct publishes its weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the newest, released Dec 11, 2024. Aya Expanse 32B came out Oct 24, 2024; Hermes 3 70B Instruct came out Aug 18, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite Jun 2024, Hermes 3 70B Instruct Dec 31, 2023.
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.
