Qwen3.5 122B-A10B vs Nova 2 Lite vs Grok Build 0.1
Nova 2 Lite comes out ahead, 61 to 54 and 53 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.5 122B-A10B
54/100- ECI—
- Price$0.40 / $3.20
- Context262K
- Our pick
AmazonNova 2 Lite
61/100- ECI—
- Price$0.315 / $2.63
- Context1M
xAIGrok Build 0.1
53/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $2.00
- Context256K
Nova 2 Lite is our pick
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Qwen3.5 122B-A10B (54) and Grok Build 0.1 (53). It leads on price 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 2 LiteNova 2 Lite $0.892 · Qwen3.5 122B-A10B $1.10 · Grok Build 0.1 $1.25 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNova 2 LiteNova 2 Lite 1,000,000 · Qwen3.5 122B-A10B 262,144 · Grok Build 0.1 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsNova 2 LiteQwen3.5 122B-A10B: Text, Images, Video · Nova 2 Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · Grok Build 0.1: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingQwen3.5 122B-A10BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3.5 122B-A10B | Nova 2 Lite | Grok Build 0.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 46 | 50 | 43 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 60 | 36 |
| Overall | 100% | 54/100 | 61/100 | 53/100 |
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 | Qwen3.5 122B-A10BAlibaba (Qwen) | Nova 2 LiteAmazon | Grok Build 0.1xAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.40 | $0.315 (best) | $1.00 |
| Output | $3.20 | $2.63 | $2.00 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.20 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.10 | $0.892 (best) | $1.25 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Over 200K: $2.00 / $4.00 |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 6 providers | Official xAI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 65,536 tokens | 256,000 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | Yes | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen3.5-122b-a10b | nova-2-lite-v1 | grok-build-0.1 |
| API providers | 22 (best) | 8 | 20 |
| Released | Feb 23, 2026 | Dec 2, 2025 | Apr 16, 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.
- Qwen3.5 122B-A10B$10.40
- Nova 2 Lite$8.40
- Grok Build 0.1$14.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3.5 122B-A10B, Nova 2 Lite or Grok Build 0.1?
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Qwen3.5 122B-A10B (54) and Grok Build 0.1 (53). It leads on price 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, Qwen3.5 122B-A10B, Nova 2 Lite or Grok Build 0.1?
Nova 2 Lite is cheaper at $0.315 input / $2.63 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers; free on Nova). Qwen3.5 122B-A10B costs $0.40 input / $3.20 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); Grok Build 0.1 costs $1.00 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official xAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.892 per million tokens for Nova 2 Lite versus $1.10 for Qwen3.5 122B-A10B (1.2× as much) and $1.25 for Grok Build 0.1 (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen3.5 122B-A10B has not been scored yet, Nova 2 Lite has not been scored yet and Grok Build 0.1 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.5 122B-A10B, Nova 2 Lite and Grok Build 0.1 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 262,144 for Qwen3.5 122B-A10B and 256,000 for Grok Build 0.1. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.5 122B-A10B up to 65,536, Nova 2 Lite up to 65,536, Grok Build 0.1 up to 256,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3.5 122B-A10B accepts text, images and video; Nova 2 Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video; Grok Build 0.1 accepts text, images and PDFs. Nova 2 Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3.5 122B-A10B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Nova 2 Lite and Grok Build 0.1 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Grok Build 0.1 is the newest, released Apr 16, 2026. Qwen3.5 122B-A10B came out Feb 23, 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.
