GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite

    Comparison

    As of August 20, 2026, Nova Lite is 97% cheaper per million tokens than GPT-5 Codex. GPT-5 Codex is $1.25 / $10.00 per million input/output tokens versus Nova Lite at $0.06 / $0.24. Sources: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing and https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing

    Sources: OpenAI API pricing (https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing); AnotherWrapper LLM pricing (https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing)

    GPT-5 Codex

    OpenAI

    $11.25blended / 1M

    Input

    $1.25

    Output

    $10.00

    400K ctx|Proprietary
    97%
    cheaper
    Better value

    Nova Lite

    Amazon

    $0.30blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.06

    Output

    $0.24

    300K ctx|Proprietary
    Save $10.95 per million tokens by choosing Nova Lite over GPT-5 Codex.

    GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite comparison

    Token pricing, specs, and benchmarks side by side

    Metric
    GPT-5 Codex
    Nova Lite
    Provider
    Provider
    OpenAI
    Amazon
    License
    Proprietary
    Proprietary
    Release Date
    2025-09-15
    2024-11-20
    Pricing (per 1M tokens)
    Input Price+1983%
    $1.25
    $0.06
    Output Price+4067%
    $10.00
    $0.24
    Blended (1M + 1M)
    $11.25
    $0.30
    Model Details
    Context Window
    400K
    300K
    Max Output Tokens
    N/A
    2K
    Knowledge Cutoff
    2024-09-30
    N/A
    Throughput
    N/A
    100 tok/s
    Benchmarks
    3.6%
    42%
    89.7%
    66.6%
    80.5%
    56.2%
    85.4%
    73.3%
    20.1%
    92.4%
    82.4%
    86.8%
    43.8%
    92.4%
    80.2%
    71.4%
    73.6%
    80.2%
    94.5%
    9.8%
    40.4%
    60.7%
    19.2%
    80.2%
    77.8%

    Verdict

    GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite: the bottom line

    Both models are closely matched on benchmarks. Nova Lite has the pricing advantage, making it the better value unless GPT-5 Codex's specific capabilities are critical to your workflow.

    GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite FAQ

    Which is cheaper, GPT-5 Codex or Nova Lite?

    As of August 20, 2026, Nova Lite is 97% cheaper on blended LLM API pricing. Nova Lite costs $0.06 per million input tokens and $0.24 per million output tokens ($0.30 blended 1M-in + 1M-out). GPT-5 Codex costs $1.25 / $10.00 per million tokens ($11.25 blended). Sources: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing and https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing. The cheapest LLM for your app still depends on how many output tokens you generate.

    How much does GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite cost per million tokens?

    GPT-5 Codex OpenAI API pricing is $1.25 input and $10.00 output per million tokens via OpenAI. Nova Lite Amazon API pricing is $0.06 input and $0.24 output per million tokens via Amazon. Use those four numbers, not ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription prices, when you are comparing APIs.

    Which is better for coding, GPT-5 Codex or Nova Lite?

    GPT-5 Codex has a published SWE-bench Verified score of 74.5%. Nova Lite does not have that eval on this page yet.

    What is the context window for GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite?

    GPT-5 Codex supports a 400K token context window, while Nova Lite supports 300K tokens. GPT-5 Codex offers a larger context window. Filling a larger window bills more input tokens, so the cheaper-per-million model can still cost more on long documents.

    Which model performs better on benchmarks, GPT-5 Codex or Nova Lite?

    Shared benchmark scores for GPT-5 Codex and Nova Lite are still limited. Check the comparison table for the evals each model has published. Check the comparison table for GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench, MMLU, HLE, and the other evals we track. Token price and benchmark score together are the usual LLM comparison, not either number alone.

    Is GPT-5 Codex or Nova Lite better for production use?

    Both GPT-5 Codex and Nova Lite are production API models. For cost-sensitive production traffic, Nova Lite has better economics on the blended 1M-in + 1M-out scale. For maximum capability, weight the benchmark table for your domain. Many production stacks route cheap models for drafts and a frontier model for the hard turn, which is usually cheaper than sending everything to the expensive API.

    Can I switch between GPT-5 Codex and Nova Lite in my app?

    Yes. Call GPT-5 Codex through OpenAI and Nova Lite through Amazon with separate API keys, or through a gateway that already wraps both. Keep prompts in tokens, not characters, when you estimate the invoice. AnotherWrapper templates can swap providers without rewriting auth and billing.

    How accurate is this GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite pricing data?

    List rates are the latest published OpenAI API pricing and Amazon API pricing, quoted per million tokens. Official rate sheets: https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing and https://anotherwrapper.com/tools/llm-pricing. Prompt caching, batch APIs, and committed-use discounts can change the invoice. Benchmark scores are from official publications and independent evals, updated as new numbers land.

    What is the output token limit for GPT-5 Codex and Nova Lite?

    GPT-5 Codex supports up to an unspecified number of output tokens per request, while Nova Lite supports up to 2K output tokens. Output tokens are usually the expensive half of API pricing, so a higher max output cap is a capability, not a discount.

    Which model has better throughput, GPT-5 Codex or Nova Lite?

    Nova Lite has a measured throughput of approximately 100 tokens/second. Throughput data for GPT-5 Codex is not yet available. Throughput (tokens per second) and time-to-first-token are why two models with the same per-million-token price can still feel different in chat and agents.

    How do I switch the models in this GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite comparison?

    Use the model pickers at the top of this LLM comparison. Search any model in the index and the URL updates. Open GPT-5 Codex or Nova Lite from the sidebar for the single-model API pricing page, or go back to the LLM pricing table to sort by cheapest blended cost.

    GPT-5 Codex vs Nova Lite pricing

    This comparison covers API pricing, context window, throughput, and benchmark scores. GPT-5 Codex costs $1.25/M input and $10.00/M output. Nova Lite costs $0.06/M input and $0.24/M output.

    Rank both on the LLM leaderboard, SWE-bench, and Humanity's Last Exam.

    The index

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