Nova Lite vs Nova Micro vs Phi-4-mini
Nova Lite comes out ahead, 77 to 62 and 58 on our weighted score, though Nova Micro is 42% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
AmazonNova Lite
77/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.24
- Context300K
- Amazon
Nova Micro
62/100- ECI—
- Price$0.035 / $0.14
- Context128K
MicrosoftPhi-4-mini
58/100- ECI—
- Price$0.075 / $0.30
- Context128K
Nova Lite is our pick
Nova Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 77/100 against Nova Micro (62) and Phi-4-mini (58). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Nova Micro wins on price. 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 MicroNova Micro $0.061 · Nova Lite $0.105 · Phi-4-mini $0.131 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNova LiteNova Lite 300,000 · Nova Micro 128,000 · Phi-4-mini 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsNova LiteNova Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · Nova Micro: Text · Phi-4-mini: Text
- Self-hostingPhi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Nova Lite | Nova Micro | Phi-4-mini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 96 | 100 | 92 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 39 | 24 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 77/100 | 62/100 | 58/100 |
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 | Nova LiteAmazon | Nova MicroAmazon | Phi-4-miniMicrosoft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.06 | $0.035 (best) | $0.075 |
| Output | $0.24 | $0.14 (best) | $0.30 |
| Cached input | $0.015 | $0.0088 (best) | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.105 | $0.061 (best) | $0.131 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Amazon Bedrock API | Official Amazon Bedrock API | Official Azure API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 300,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 10,000 tokens (best) | 10,000 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | amazon.nova-lite-v1:0 | amazon.nova-micro-v1:0 | phi-4-mini |
| API providers | 3 (best) | 3 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Dec 3, 2024 | Dec 3, 2024 | Dec 11, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2024 | Oct 2024 | Oct 2023 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Nova Lite$1.08
- Nova Micro$0.63
- Phi-4-mini$1.35
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Nova Lite, Nova Micro or Phi-4-mini?
Nova Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 77/100 against Nova Micro (62) and Phi-4-mini (58). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Nova Micro wins on price. 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, Nova Lite, Nova Micro or Phi-4-mini?
Nova Micro is cheaper at $0.035 input / $0.14 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price). Nova Lite costs $0.06 input / $0.24 output per million tokens (official Amazon Bedrock API price); Phi-4-mini costs $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.061 per million tokens for Nova Micro versus $0.105 for Nova Lite (1.7× as much) and $0.131 for Phi-4-mini (2.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Nova Lite has not been scored yet, Nova Micro has not been scored yet and Phi-4-mini has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nova Lite, Nova Micro and Phi-4-mini 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 Lite has the largest context window at 300,000 tokens, against 128,000 for Nova Micro and 128,000 for Phi-4-mini. Maximum output per response: Nova Lite up to 10,000, Nova Micro up to 10,000, Phi-4-mini up to 4,096 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Nova Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video; Nova Micro accepts text; Phi-4-mini accepts text. Nova Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Phi-4-mini publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Nova Lite and Nova Micro is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Phi-4-mini is the newest, released Dec 11, 2024. Nova Lite came out Dec 3, 2024; Nova Micro came out Dec 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Nova Lite Oct 2024, Nova Micro Oct 2024, Phi-4-mini Oct 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 Oct 4, 2026.
