# Llama 3.2 3B vs Nova 2 Lite

> Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.7 to 28.9 on the Noometry Index. Llama 3.2 3B costs 7.1× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Nova 2 Lite's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/llama-3-2-3b-vs-nova-2-lite
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 14

## Summary

- They share 14 benchmarks with published results for both. Llama 3.2 3B scores higher in 0 categories and Nova 2 Lite in 9 categories; 9 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where Nova 2 Lite leads 53.9 to 24.7.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard: 21.9% for Llama 3.2 3B and 27.1% for Nova 2 Lite.
- Llama 3.2 3B is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.33 per million input/output tokens, against $0.30 / $2.50 for Nova 2 Lite.
- Nova 2 Lite accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 131K.
- Llama 3.2 3B has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meta | Amazon |
| Noometry Index | 28.9 | 39.7 |
| Rank | 321 | 161 |
| Context | 131K | 1M |
| Input $/M | $0.05 | $0.30 |
| Output $/M | $0.33 | $2.50 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Llama 3.2 3B: 27.6 (#319)
- Nova 2 Lite: 40.7 (#134)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1098 | 1385 |
| BigCodeBench Instruct | 23.4% | — |
| BigCodeBench Complete | 28.3% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Llama 3.2 3B: 20.1 (#143)
- Nova 2 Lite: 24.1 (#121)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | 21.9% | 27.1% |
| BALROG | 10.1% | — |

## Reasoning

- Llama 3.2 3B: 21.0 (#228)
- Nova 2 Lite: 27.5 (#118)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1095 | 1364 |

## Math

- Llama 3.2 3B: 32.4 (#214)
- Nova 2 Lite: 37.5 (#156)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1126 | 1359 |

## Knowledge

- Llama 3.2 3B: 29.7 (#235)
- Nova 2 Lite: 43.0 (#94)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1090 | 1358 |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | — | 5.1% |

## Multilingual

- Llama 3.2 3B: 26.2 (#281)
- Nova 2 Lite: 47.1 (#153)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1019 | 1337 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1017 | 1364 |
| LMArena German | 1056 | 1343 |
| LMArena Russian | 949 | 1343 |
| LMArena French | — | 1381 |
| LMArena Japanese | — | 1271 |
| LMArena Korean | — | 1284 |
| LMArena Spanish | — | 1373 |

## Instruction Following

- Llama 3.2 3B: 56.0 (#275)
- Nova 2 Lite: 70.5 (#161)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1089 | 1335 |

## Long Context

- Llama 3.2 3B: 33.4 (#261)
- Nova 2 Lite: 40.6 (#150)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1100 | 1335 |

## Writing & Preference

- Llama 3.2 3B: 24.7 (#307)
- Nova 2 Lite: 53.9 (#154)

| Benchmark | Llama 3.2 3B | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1110 | 1362 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1094 | 1291 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1105 | 1338 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 595 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Llama 3.2 3B better than Nova 2 Lite?

Nova 2 Lite is the stronger model overall, scoring 39.7 to 28.9 on the Noometry Index. Llama 3.2 3B costs 7.1× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Nova 2 Lite's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Llama 3.2 3B or Nova 2 Lite?

Llama 3.2 3B is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.33 per million output tokens; Nova 2 Lite lists at $0.30 and $2.50.

### Is Llama 3.2 3B or Nova 2 Lite better for coding?

Nova 2 Lite scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.7 versus 27.6 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Nova 2 Lite does, with 1M tokens against 131K.

### How many benchmarks do Llama 3.2 3B and Nova 2 Lite share?

14 benchmarks have published results for both models. Llama 3.2 3B has 18 scored results on Noometry and Nova 2 Lite has 19.