Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite vs Hermes 3 70B Instruct vs Nova Lite
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 82 to 75 and 32 on our weighted score, though Nova Lite is 6% cheaper per token.
- 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
AmazonNova Lite
75/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.24
- Context300K
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is our pick
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Nova Lite (75) and Hermes 3 70B Instruct (32). It leads on 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 priceNova LiteNova Lite $0.105 · Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite $0.111 · Hermes 3 70B Instruct $0.70 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Nova Lite 300,000 · Hermes 3 70B Instruct 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Hermes 3 70B Instruct: Text · Nova Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingHermes 3 70B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Hermes 3 70B Instruct | Nova Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 91 | 55 | 92 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 80 | 0 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 25 | 39 |
| Overall | 100% | 82/100 | 32/100 | 75/100 |
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 | Gemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGoogle | Hermes 3 70B InstructNous Research | Nova LiteAmazon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.064 | $0.70 | $0.06 (best) |
| Output | $0.255 | $0.70 | $0.24 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.015 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.111 | $0.70 | $0.105 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Median of 5 providers | Official Amazon Bedrock API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 300,000 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens (best) | 10,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | Yes |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | — | amazon.nova-lite-v1:0 |
| API providers | 3 | 5 | 8 (best) |
| Released | Dec 11, 2024 | Aug 18, 2024 | Dec 3, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | Oct 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite$1.15
- Hermes 3 70B Instruct$8.40
- Nova Lite$1.08
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, Hermes 3 70B Instruct or Nova Lite?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Nova Lite (75) and Hermes 3 70B Instruct (32). It leads on 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, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, Hermes 3 70B Instruct or Nova Lite?
Nova Lite is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.24 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price). Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite costs $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). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.105 per million tokens for Nova Lite versus $0.111 for Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite (1.1× as much) and $0.70 for Hermes 3 70B Instruct (6.7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet, Hermes 3 70B Instruct has not been scored yet and Nova Lite has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, Hermes 3 70B Instruct and Nova Lite yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that 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 300,000 for Nova Lite and 131,072 for Hermes 3 70B Instruct. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite up to 8,192, Hermes 3 70B Instruct up to 16,384, Nova Lite up to 10,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Hermes 3 70B Instruct accepts text; Nova Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hermes 3 70B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Nova Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the newest, released Dec 11, 2024. Nova Lite came out Dec 3, 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, Nova Lite Oct 2024.
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.
