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GPT-4.1 vs Amazon Nova Lite

A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.

Updated

GPT-4.1 specs · Amazon Nova Lite specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceAmazon Nova Lite

    Amazon Nova Lite is roughly 33.3× cheaper on output tokens ($0.24 vs $8.00 per 1M).

  • Context windowGPT-4.1

    GPT-4.1 accepts 1M tokens vs 300K, 3.3× the room for long documents and codebases.

  • BenchmarksTie

    No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores.

  • ModalitiesTie

    Both handle text, vision.

  • OpennessTie

    Both are closed-weight, API-only.

It's a genuine coin-flip between GPT-4.1 and Amazon Nova Lite: 1 category wins each, with the rest tied. Amazon Nova Lite is roughly 33.3× cheaper on output tokens ($0.24 vs $8.00 per 1M). GPT-4.1 accepts 1M tokens vs 300K, 3.3× the room for long documents and codebases.

No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. Both target the same set of modalities (text, vision), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Both are closed-weight, API-only.

GPT-4.1 is the newer of the two, released 4 months after Amazon Nova Lite, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. GPT-4.1 is usually picked for long context and rag workloads, while Amazon Nova Lite sees more deployments in customer support and cheapest llm. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.

Side-by-side specs

SpecGPT-4.1Amazon Nova Lite
ProviderOpenAIOther
ReleasedApr 2025Dec 2024
Modalitiestext, visiontext, vision
Context window1M tokens300K tokens
Max output32.8K tokens,
Input · 1M$2.00 / 1M tokens$0.060 / 1M tokens
Output · 1M$8.00 / 1M tokens$0.24 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff2024-06,
Open weightsNoNo
API availableYesYes

Pricing at scale

What you'd actually pay at typical workloads. Numbers come from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day$18.00 vs $0.540
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$180 vs $5.40
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$348 vs $10.44

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $18.00 vs $0.540 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $180 vs $5.40 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $348 vs $10.44 per month, model B comes out ahead.

Price calculator

Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.

  • GPT-4.1$0.600
  • Amazon Nova Lite$0.018

Benchmarks compared

Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.

GPT-4.1Amazon Nova Lite
  • MMLU86.2
  • HumanEval90.6
Pick GPT-4.1 if

GPT-4.1 fits when…

  • 1M-token context window, strong for long-doc workloads
  • Mature SDK and tooling integrations
  • Reliable JSON-mode and function-calling
  • Long-context tasks, handles 1M tokens vs 300K for Amazon Nova Lite.
Pick Amazon Nova Lite if

Amazon Nova Lite fits when…

  • Very cheap
  • AWS-native
  • Multimodal
  • Cost-sensitive workloads, 33.3× cheaper than GPT-4.1 on output tokens.
Don't want either?

Consider GPT-5.5

OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.

See GPT-5.5 specsGPT-4.1 vs GPT-5.5Amazon Nova Lite vs GPT-5.5

Frequently asked

  • Is GPT-4.1 or Amazon Nova Lite cheaper?
    Amazon Nova Lite is cheaper at $0.24 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $8.00 / 1M tokens for GPT-4.1.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    GPT-4.1 accepts 1M tokens vs 300K for Amazon Nova Lite.
  • Is GPT-4.1 or Amazon Nova Lite better for coding?
    Both GPT-4.1 and Amazon Nova Lite are competitive on coding benchmarks. See each model's individual spec page for HumanEval and SWE-bench scores where published. For an opinionated pick, consult our Best LLM for Coding ranking.
  • Are either of these models open source?
    Neither model ships open weights, both are accessible only via their respective providers' APIs.
  • When were GPT-4.1 and Amazon Nova Lite released?
    GPT-4.1 was released by OpenAI on 2025-04-14. Amazon Nova Lite was released by Other on 2024-12-03.
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