GPT-5 vs Amazon Nova Micro
A complete head-to-head: pricing, context window, benchmarks, modality coverage, and openness, with a programmatic verdict synthesized from the underlying data.
Updated
GPT-5 specs · Amazon Nova Micro specs- PriceAmazon Nova Micro
Amazon Nova Micro is roughly 71.4× cheaper on output tokens ($0.14 vs $10.00 per 1M).
- Context windowGPT-5
GPT-5 accepts 400K tokens vs 128K, 3.1× 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.
- ModalitiesGPT-5
GPT-5 supports 3 modalities (text, vision, audio) vs 1 for Amazon Nova Micro.
- OpennessTie
Both are closed-weight, API-only.
On balance GPT-5 edges ahead, winning 2 of 5 categories against Amazon Nova Micro's 1. Amazon Nova Micro is roughly 71.4× cheaper on output tokens ($0.14 vs $10.00 per 1M). GPT-5 accepts 400K tokens vs 128K, 3.1× the room for long documents and codebases.
No directly comparable public benchmarks are available for both models, check the spec sheets for individual scores. They differ in modality coverage, GPT-5 handles text, vision, audio while Amazon Nova Micro handles text, which can be the deciding factor before you even look at benchmarks. Both are closed-weight, API-only.
GPT-5 is the newer of the two, released 8 months after Amazon Nova Micro, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. GPT-5 is usually picked for coding llm and agents workloads, while Amazon Nova Micro sees more deployments in cheapest llm and fastest llm. If pricing matters more than every last benchmark point, run the numbers in the calculator below before committing.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GPT-5 | Amazon Nova Micro |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | OpenAI | Other |
| Released | Aug 2025 | Dec 2024 |
| Modalities | text, vision, audio | text |
| Context window | 400K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Max output | 128K tokens | , |
| Input · 1M | $1.25 / 1M tokens | $0.035 / 1M tokens |
| Output · 1M | $10.00 / 1M tokens | $0.14 / 1M tokens |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-09 | , |
| Open weights | No | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
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$18.75 vs $0.315
- Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day$188 vs $3.15
- RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day$248 vs $6.09
Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: $18.75 vs $0.315 per month, model B comes out ahead. Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: $188 vs $3.15 per month, model B comes out ahead. RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: $248 vs $6.09 per month, model B comes out ahead.
Estimated spend for the listed models at your usage. Numbers are derived from each model's published per-million-token rates.
- GPT-5$0.625
- Amazon Nova Micro$0.011
Benchmarks compared
Only sourced numbers. Where a benchmark is missing for one model we show the available value rather than fabricating the other.
- MMLU91.4
- HumanEval96.2
- GPQA89.4
- SWE-bench Verified74.9
GPT-5 fits when…
- Unified model, reasoning routed automatically per query
- Excellent tool-use and JSON-mode discipline
- Strong agent performance on SWE-bench Verified
- Long-context tasks, handles 400K tokens vs 128K for Amazon Nova Micro.
- Multimodal needs covering vision, audio.
Amazon Nova Micro fits when…
- Lowest-cost frontier-lab model
- Native AWS integration
- Generous 128k context for the price tier
- Cost-sensitive workloads, 71.4× cheaper than GPT-5 on output tokens.
Consider GPT-5.5
OpenAI's mid-cycle GPT-5 refresh, improved reasoning, tool use, and multimodal grounding over the 2025 launch.
Frequently asked
Is GPT-5 or Amazon Nova Micro cheaper?
Amazon Nova Micro is cheaper at $0.14 / 1M tokens per million output tokens, vs $10.00 / 1M tokens for GPT-5.Which has the larger context window?
GPT-5 accepts 400K tokens vs 128K for Amazon Nova Micro.Is GPT-5 or Amazon Nova Micro better for coding?
Both GPT-5 and Amazon Nova Micro 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-5 and Amazon Nova Micro released?
GPT-5 was released by OpenAI on 2025-08-07. Amazon Nova Micro was released by Other on 2024-12-03.
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