Nova Lite vs Saba vs Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 82 to 75 and 46 on our weighted score, though Nova Lite is 6% cheaper per token.
AmazonNova Lite
75/100- ECI—
- Price$0.06 / $0.24
- Context300K
Mistral AISaba
46/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.60
- Context33K
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
82/100- ECI—
- Price$0.064 / $0.255
- Context1.05M
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 Saba (46). 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 · Saba $0.30 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Nova Lite 300,000 · Saba 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteNova Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · Saba: Text, PDFs · Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Nova Lite | Saba | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 92 | 72 | 91 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 35 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 39 | 0 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 75/100 | 46/100 | 82/100 |
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 | SabaMistral AI | Gemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGoogle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.06 (best) | $0.20 | $0.064 |
| Output | $0.24 (best) | $0.60 | $0.255 |
| Cached input | $0.015 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.105 (best) | $0.30 | $0.111 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Amazon Bedrock API | Median of 4 providers | Median of 2 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 300,000 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 10,000 tokens | 26,214 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | Yes |
| Video | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | amazon.nova-lite-v1:0 | — | — |
| API providers | 8 (best) | 4 | 3 |
| Released | Dec 3, 2024 | Feb 17, 2025 | Dec 11, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | Jun 2024 |
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
- Saba$3.20
- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite$1.15
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Nova Lite, Saba or Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 82/100 against Nova Lite (75) and Saba (46). 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, Nova Lite, Saba or Gemini 2.0 Flash-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); Saba costs $0.20 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (median across 4 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 $0.30 for Saba (2.9× 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, Saba has not been scored yet and Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Nova Lite, Saba and Gemini 2.0 Flash-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?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 300,000 for Nova Lite and 32,768 for Saba. Maximum output per response: Nova Lite up to 10,000, Saba up to 26,214, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Nova Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video; Saba accepts text and PDFs; Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Nova Lite, Saba and Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Saba is the newest, released Feb 17, 2025. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite came out Dec 11, 2024; Nova Lite came out Dec 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Nova Lite Oct 2024, Saba Sep 30, 2024, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite Jun 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.
