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Head-to-head comparison

Nova 2 Lite vs Gemma 3 12B

Nova 2 Lite (Amazon) and Gemma 3 12B (Google) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 9 September 2026

As of 9 September 2026, Nova 2 Lite holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#129 vs #133); Gemma 3 12B is 16.7× cheaper per output token ($0.15/1M vs $2.50/1M); and Nova 2 Lite offers the longer context window (1M vs 131K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Nova 2 Lite if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #129 against #133 (30.9 vs 30.0 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 131K.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1394 against 1316.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Nova 2 Lite was listed 2 December 2025, Gemma 3 12B 13 March 2025.

Choose Gemma 3 12B if…

  • API cost matters — $0.15/1M output tokens against $2.50/1M, about 16.7× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.05/1M against $0.30/1M.

Nova 2 Lite vs Gemma 3 12B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Nova 2 Lite and Gemma 3 12B
FieldNova 2 LiteAmazonGemma 3 12BGoogle
ModelCap Index position#129#133
Index score30.930.0
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.30$0.05
Output price / 1M tokens$2.50$0.15
Context window1M tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens66K16K
API providers listed11
Weight accessAPI onlyGated access
Input modalitiesText, Image, Video, FileText, Image
First listed2 December 202513 March 2025
PublisherAmazonGoogle

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Nova 2 Lite vs Gemma 3 12B

Public benchmark boards where Nova 2 Lite or Gemma 3 12B has a published result
BoardNova 2 LiteGemma 3 12BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13941383–140613161293–1340Nova 2 Lite
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)—30.4PromptOnly one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—3.8intelligence-index:v4.3:non-reasoningOnly one result
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis—0.0%terminal-bench:2.1:terminus-2:e2b:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Gemma 3 12B":reasoning=falseOnly one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis—10.8%tau2:telecom:dual-control:pass-at-1:3-repeats:source-model="Gemma 3 12B":reasoning=falseOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis—4.2%hle:may-2025:text-only-2158:no-tools:pass-at-1:source-model="Gemma 3 12B":reasoning=falseOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Nova 2 Lite vs Gemma 3 12B: common questions

Is Nova 2 Lite better than Gemma 3 12B?

Nova 2 Lite ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 9 September 2026: #129 against #133. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Nova 2 Lite cheaper than Gemma 3 12B?

Gemma 3 12B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.15/1M against $2.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.30/1M for Nova 2 Lite and $0.05/1M for Gemma 3 12B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $1.85 for Nova 2 Lite versus $0.17 for Gemma 3 12B. Gemma 3 12B costs 90.5% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or Gemma 3 12B?

Nova 2 Lite has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Nova 2 Lite or Gemma 3 12B?

Arena coding: Nova 2 Lite 1394, Gemma 3 12B 1316 — Nova 2 Lite leads.

Are Nova 2 Lite and Gemma 3 12B open-weight models?

Nova 2 Lite: API only. Gemma 3 12B: Gated access. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Nova 2 Lite and Gemma 3 12B?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Nova 2 Lite and 1 for Gemma 3 12B, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Nova 2 Lite vs Gemma 3 12B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 9 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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