Model comparison
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b vs Nova 2 Lite
Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.7 to 34.9 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 15 shared benchmarks.
CohereSummary
- They share 15 benchmarks with published results for both. C4ai Aya Expanse 8b scores higher in 0 categories and Nova 2 Lite in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Nova 2 Lite leads 53.9 to 39.0.
- C4ai Aya Expanse 8b has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Cohere | Amazon |
| Noometry Index | 34.9 | 39.7 |
| Released | — | 2025-12-01 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | — | 1M |
| Max output | — | 64K |
| Input $ / M tokens | — | $0.30 |
| Output $ / M tokens | — | $2.50 |
| Results tracked | 15 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 33.8 (#252), Nova 2 Lite: 40.7 (#134)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1160 | 1385 |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: —, Nova 2 Lite: 24.1 (#121)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | — | 27.1% |
Reasoning Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 22.4 (#197), Nova 2 Lite: 27.5 (#118)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1156 | 1364 |
Math Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 33.3 (#203), Nova 2 Lite: 37.5 (#156)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1168 | 1359 |
Knowledge Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 33.6 (#201), Nova 2 Lite: 43.0 (#94)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 9.5% | 5.1% |
| LMArena Expert | 1153 | 1358 |
Multilingual Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 36.1 (#242), Nova 2 Lite: 47.1 (#153)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1180 | 1337 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1181 | 1364 |
| LMArena German | 1188 | 1343 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1120 | 1271 |
| LMArena Russian | 1197 | 1343 |
| LMArena French | — | 1381 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1284 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1373 |
Instruction Following Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 60.1 (#253), Nova 2 Lite: 70.5 (#161)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1155 | 1335 |
Long Context Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 36.1 (#236), Nova 2 Lite: 40.6 (#150)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1191 | 1335 |
Writing & Preference Nova 2 Lite leads
C4ai Aya Expanse 8b: 39.0 (#250), Nova 2 Lite: 53.9 (#154)
| Benchmark | C4ai Aya Expanse 8b | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1185 | 1362 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1168 | 1291 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1160 | 1338 |
Frequently asked questions
Is C4ai Aya Expanse 8b better than Nova 2 Lite?
Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.7 to 34.9 on the Noometry Index.
Is C4ai Aya Expanse 8b or Nova 2 Lite better for coding?
Nova 2 Lite scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.7 versus 33.8 in the Noometry coding category.
How many benchmarks do C4ai Aya Expanse 8b and Nova 2 Lite share?
15 benchmarks have published results for both models. C4ai Aya Expanse 8b has 15 scored results on Noometry and Nova 2 Lite has 19.