Claude 3 Opus vs Nova Lite
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude 3 Opus by Anthropic wins on 9 of 14 benchmarks against Nova Lite by Amazon, which leads on 5. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from our benchmark data.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, Claude 3 Opus scores 1240 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Nova Lite's 1110, while Claude 3 Opus scores 68.0% on MMLU-Pro compared to Nova Lite's 45.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude 3 Opus scores 78.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Nova Lite's 55.0%, while Claude 3 Opus scores 22.0% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Nova Lite's 10.0%, while Claude 3 Opus scores 32.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Nova Lite's 14.0%.
Math: In math, Claude 3 Opus scores 68.0% on MATH compared to Nova Lite's 40.0%, while Claude 3 Opus scores 88.0% on GSM8K compared to Nova Lite's 68.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude 3 Opus scores 59.4% on GPQA Diamond compared to Nova Lite's 20.0%, while Claude 3 Opus scores 8.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Nova Lite's 3.0%.
Context: In context, Nova Lite scores 300K on Context Length compared to Claude 3 Opus's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude 3 Opus costs $15.0/1M input tokens and $75.0/1M output tokens, while Nova Lite costs $0.06/1M input and $0.24/1M output. Nova Lite is the more affordable option for API usage.
Speed Comparison
Claude 3 Opus generates output at 25 tok/s compared to Nova Lite's 150 tok/s, and the time to first token is 800 ms for Claude 3 Opus versus 150 ms for Nova Lite. Nova Lite delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, Claude 3 Opus has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Nova Lite is the stronger choice.
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Claude 3 Opus vs Nova Lite — FAQ
Which is better, Claude 3 Opus or Nova Lite?
Claude 3 Opus wins on more benchmarks overall (9 vs 5). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude 3 Opus compare to Nova Lite for coding?
Claude 3 Opus is better for coding, scoring 22.0% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 10.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude 3 Opus cheaper than Nova Lite?
Yes, Nova Lite is cheaper. Claude 3 Opus costs $15.0/1M input and $75.0/1M output tokens. Nova Lite costs $0.06/1M input and $0.24/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude 3 Opus or Nova Lite?
Nova Lite is faster, generating output at 150 tok/s compared to 25 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude 3 Opus vs Nova Lite comparison cover?
This comparison covers 14 benchmarks including Chatbot Arena ELO, MMLU-Pro, HumanEval+, MATH, GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench Verified, Output Speed, LiveCodeBench, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.