Relace Apply 3 vs Nova 2 Lite vs GLM-4.6
Nova 2 Lite comes out ahead, 61 to 41 and 32 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Relace
Relace Apply 3
32/100- ECI—
- Price$0.85 / $1.25
- Context256K
- Our pick
AmazonNova 2 Lite
61/100- ECI—
- Price$0.315 / $2.63
- Context1M
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.6
41/100- ECI—
- Price$0.60 / $2.20
- Context205K
Nova 2 Lite is our pick
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against GLM-4.6 (41) and Relace Apply 3 (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 2 LiteNova 2 Lite $0.892 · Relace Apply 3 $0.95 · GLM-4.6 $1.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextNova 2 LiteNova 2 Lite 1,000,000 · Relace Apply 3 256,000 · GLM-4.6 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsNova 2 LiteRelace Apply 3: Text · Nova 2 Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · GLM-4.6: Text
- Self-hostingGLM-4.6Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Relace Apply 3 | Nova 2 Lite | GLM-4.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 49 | 50 | 48 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 0 | 80 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 60 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 32/100 | 61/100 | 41/100 |
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 | Relace Apply 3Relace | Nova 2 LiteAmazon | GLM-4.6Z.ai (Zhipu) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.85 | $0.315 (best) | $0.60 |
| Output | $1.25 (best) | $2.63 | $2.20 |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.11 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.95 | $0.892 (best) | $1.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | Median of 6 providers | Official Z.AI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 204,800 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yeslow · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | No | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | nova-2-lite-v1 | glm-4.6 |
| API providers | 3 | 8 | 29 (best) |
| Released | Sep 26, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Oct 2025 | Apr 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Relace Apply 3$11.00
- Nova 2 Lite$8.40
- GLM-4.6$10.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Relace Apply 3, Nova 2 Lite or GLM-4.6?
Nova 2 Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against GLM-4.6 (41) and Relace Apply 3 (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, Relace Apply 3, Nova 2 Lite or GLM-4.6?
Nova 2 Lite is cheaper at $0.315 input / $2.63 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers; free on Nova). Relace Apply 3 costs $0.85 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers); GLM-4.6 costs $0.60 input / $2.20 output per million tokens (official Z.AI 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 $0.95 for Relace Apply 3 (1.1× as much) and $1.00 for GLM-4.6 (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Relace Apply 3 has not been scored yet, Nova 2 Lite has not been scored yet and GLM-4.6 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Relace Apply 3, Nova 2 Lite and GLM-4.6 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Relace Apply 3 does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Nova 2 Lite has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 256,000 for Relace Apply 3 and 204,800 for GLM-4.6. Maximum output per response: Relace Apply 3 up to 128,000, Nova 2 Lite up to 65,536, GLM-4.6 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Relace Apply 3 accepts text; Nova 2 Lite accepts text, images, PDFs and video; GLM-4.6 accepts text. Nova 2 Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-4.6 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Relace Apply 3 and Nova 2 Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Nova 2 Lite is the newest, released Dec 2, 2025. GLM-4.6 came out Sep 30, 2025; Relace Apply 3 came out Sep 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Nova 2 Lite Oct 2025, GLM-4.6 Apr 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.
