GPT-4o vs Nova Lite
Wins 5 of 7 areas
Coding · Facts · Images and charts · Long documents · Following instructions
Wins 0 of 7 areas
—
GPT-4o is the stronger all-rounder.Nova Lite is cheaper.
Scores updated · 33 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the seven areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software20GPT-4o2 of 2 tests
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video20GPT-4o2 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up21GPT-4o2 of 3 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts10GPT-4o1 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10GPT-4o1 of 1 test
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own00Even0 each · 1 tie
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking11Even1 each · 1 tie
Agents, long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Nova Lite costs 99% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where GPT-4o pulls ahead
- Reasons across sets of long documentsAA-LCR+37points ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+19.7points ahead
- Code for real scientific research problemsSciCode+19.4points ahead
Where Nova Lite pulls ahead
- Very hard expert questions across many subjectsHumanity's Last Exam+2.5points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 33 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGPT-4o
- SciCodeGPT-4o by 19.433.313.9+19.4
- Terminal-Bench HardGPT-4o by 7.58.30.8+7.5
ReasoningEven
- GPQA DiamondGPT-4o by 9.352.643.3+9.3
- Humanity's Last ExamNova Lite by 2.51.84.3+2.5
- CritPttie00tie
FactsGPT-4o
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGPT-4o by 19.762.142.4+19.7
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-4o by 13.923.79.8+13.9
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterNova Lite by 3.59.66.1+3.5
Images and chartsGPT-4o
Other results20 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceGPT-4o by 31.7-10.5-42.2+31.7
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-4o by 19.124.25.1+19.1
- naturalquestions_closedbookGPT-4o by 14.449.635.2+14.4
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)GPT-4o by 11.428.917.5+11.4
- IFEvalNova Lite by 8.78189.7+8.7
- MATHGPT-4o by 7.485.377.9+7.4
- vectara_answer_rateNova Lite by 6.193.899.9+6.1
- vectara_avg_summary_lengthNova Lite by 5.286.691.8+5.2
- HumanEvalGPT-4o by 4.890.285.4+4.8
- MMLUGPT-4o by 4.573.869.3+4.5
- OpenBookQAGPT-4o by 496.892.8+4
- GSM8KNova Lite by 3.690.994.5+3.6
- vectara_factual_consistencyNova Lite by 3.590.493.9+3.5
- DROPGPT-4o by 3.283.480.2+3.2
- NarrativeQAGPT-4o by 2.779.576.8+2.7
- AA Agentic IndexGPT-4o by 2.68.45.8+2.6
- ChartQANova Lite by 1.185.786.8+1.1
- EgoSchematie72.271.4tie
- AA Intelligencetie7.36.7tie
- DocVQAtie92.892.4tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-4o or Nova Lite?
GPT-4o wins five of the seven areas where both have results: coding, facts, images and charts, long documents and following instructions. Nova Lite wins none, but costs 99% less. They are level on agents and reasoning.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-4o. It wins 2 of the 2 coding tests both models report; Nova Lite wins none.
Which is cheaper?
GPT-4o costs $5.00 per million input tokens and $15.00 per million output tokens; Nova Lite costs $0.06 and $0.24. That makes Nova Lite about 99% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 33 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 13 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 20 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.