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Head-to-head comparison

Nova 2 Lite vs Qwen3.5-9B

Nova 2 Lite (Amazon) and Qwen3.5-9B (Qwen) 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 19 August 2026

As of 19 August 2026, Qwen3.5-9B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#85 vs #87); Qwen3.5-9B is 16.7× cheaper per output token ($0.15/1M vs $2.50/1M); Nova 2 Lite offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens); and Qwen3.5-9B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Nova 2 Lite if…

  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.

Choose Qwen3.5-9B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #85 against #87 (28.6 vs 27.7 points).
  • API cost matters — $0.15/1M output tokens against $2.50/1M, about 16.7× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.10/1M against $0.30/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3.5-9B ships open weights while Nova 2 Lite is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 5 listed API providers against 1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.5-9B was listed 10 March 2026, Nova 2 Lite 2 December 2025.

Nova 2 Lite vs Qwen3.5-9B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Nova 2 Lite and Qwen3.5-9B
FieldNova 2 LiteAmazonQwen3.5-9BQwen
ModelCap Index position#87#85
Index score27.728.6
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.30$0.10
Output price / 1M tokens$2.50$0.15
Context window1M tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens66K262K
API providers listed15
Weight accessAPI onlyOpen weights
Input modalitiesText, Image, Video, FileText, Image, Video
First listed2 December 202510 March 2026
PublisherAmazonQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Nova 2 Lite vs Qwen3.5-9B

Public benchmark boards where Nova 2 Lite or Qwen3.5-9B has a published result
BoardNova 2 LiteQwen3.5-9BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)13951383–1406—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)27.1Function calling—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—21.8intelligence-indexOnly 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 Qwen3.5-9B: common questions

Is Nova 2 Lite better than Qwen3.5-9B?

Qwen3.5-9B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 19 August 2026: #85 against #87. 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.

Is Nova 2 Lite cheaper than Qwen3.5-9B?

Qwen3.5-9B is cheaper on output tokens: $0.15/1M against $2.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.30/1M for Nova 2 Lite and $0.10/1M for Qwen3.5-9B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Nova 2 Lite or Qwen3.5-9B?

Nova 2 Lite has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Nova 2 Lite or Qwen3.5-9B?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Nova 2 Lite and Qwen3.5-9B open-weight models?

Nova 2 Lite: API only. Qwen3.5-9B: Open weights. 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 Qwen3.5-9B?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Nova 2 Lite and 5 for Qwen3.5-9B, 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 Qwen3.5-9B comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 19 August 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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