Claude Opus 4.5 vs Nova Lite
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Claude Opus 4.5 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 Opus 4.5 scores 1468 on Chatbot Arena ELO compared to Nova Lite's 1110, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 89.5% on MMLU-Pro compared to Nova Lite's 45.0%.
Coding: In coding, Claude Opus 4.5 scores 92.0% on HumanEval+ compared to Nova Lite's 55.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 80.9% on SWE-bench Verified compared to Nova Lite's 10.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 70.0% on LiveCodeBench compared to Nova Lite's 14.0%.
Math: In math, Claude Opus 4.5 scores 90.0% on MATH compared to Nova Lite's 40.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 96.5% on GSM8K compared to Nova Lite's 68.0%.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Claude Opus 4.5 scores 87.0% on GPQA Diamond compared to Nova Lite's 20.0%, while Claude Opus 4.5 scores 57.0% on ARC-AGI compared to Nova Lite's 3.0%.
Context: In context, Nova Lite scores 300K on Context Length compared to Claude Opus 4.5's 200K.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.0/1M input tokens and $25.0/1M 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 Opus 4.5 generates output at 50 tok/s compared to Nova Lite's 150 tok/s, and the time to first token is 1700 ms for Claude Opus 4.5 versus 150 ms for Nova Lite. Nova Lite delivers faster throughput.
Verdict
For developers prioritizing coding and general intelligence and math, Claude Opus 4.5 has the edge. For those who value affordability and speed, Nova Lite is the stronger choice.
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Claude Opus 4.5 vs Nova Lite — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Opus 4.5 or Nova Lite?
Claude Opus 4.5 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 Opus 4.5 compare to Nova Lite for coding?
Claude Opus 4.5 is better for coding, scoring 80.9% on SWE-bench Verified compared to 10.0%. SWE-bench tests real-world software engineering by resolving actual GitHub issues.
Is Claude Opus 4.5 cheaper than Nova Lite?
Yes, Nova Lite is cheaper. Claude Opus 4.5 costs $5.0/1M input and $25.0/1M output tokens. Nova Lite costs $0.06/1M input and $0.24/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Opus 4.5 or Nova Lite?
Nova Lite is faster, generating output at 150 tok/s compared to 50 tok/s. Faster output speed means shorter wait times for API responses.
What benchmarks does the Claude Opus 4.5 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.