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Llama 3.2 3B 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

Llama 3.2 3B specs · Amazon Nova Micro specs
Verdict by category
  • PriceAmazon Nova Micro

    Amazon Nova Micro publishes pricing ($0.14 / 1M output tokens) while Llama 3.2 3B does not.

  • Context windowTie

    Both ship a 128K-token context window.

  • BenchmarksTie

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

  • ModalitiesTie

    Both handle text.

  • OpennessLlama 3.2 3B

    Llama 3.2 3B ships open weights (Llama 3 Community License); Amazon Nova Micro is API-only.

It's a genuine coin-flip between Llama 3.2 3B and Amazon Nova Micro: 1 category wins each, with the rest tied. Amazon Nova Micro publishes pricing ($0.14 / 1M output tokens) while Llama 3.2 3B does not. Both ship a 128K-token context window.

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), so the deciding factors are price, context, and raw quality. Llama 3.2 3B ships open weights (Llama 3 Community License); Amazon Nova Micro is API-only.

Amazon Nova Micro is the newer of the two, released 2 months after Llama 3.2 3B, which usually means a more recent knowledge cutoff and updated safety post-training. Llama 3.2 3B is usually picked for on device and edge deployment 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

SpecLlama 3.2 3BAmazon Nova Micro
ProviderMetaOther
ReleasedSep 2024Dec 2024
Modalitiestexttext
Context window128K tokens128K tokens
Max output,,
Input · 1MPricing not published$0.035 / 1M tokens
Output · 1MPricing not published$0.14 / 1M tokens
Knowledge cutoff,,
Open weightsYes (Llama 3 Community License)No
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, vs $0.315
  • Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day, vs $3.15
  • RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day, vs $6.09

Light usage, 100k in / 50k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). Heavy usage, 1M in / 500k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates). RAG workload, 5M in / 200k out per day: pricing not directly comparable (one or both models are missing public per-token rates).

Price calculator

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

  • Llama 3.2 3BPricing unavailable
  • 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.

Benchmark scores not yet available. We only publish numbers we can source from official model cards or independent leaderboards, see methodology.
Pick Llama 3.2 3B if

Llama 3.2 3B fits when…

  • Runs on phones
  • 128k context for its size
  • Self-hosting and on-prem requirements, open weights (Llama 3 Community License).
Pick Amazon Nova Micro if

Amazon Nova Micro fits when…

  • Lowest-cost frontier-lab model
  • Native AWS integration
  • Generous 128k context for the price tier
Don't want either?

Consider Llama 4 405B

Meta's flagship open-weight model, sparse MoE design competitive with closed-frontier flagships.

See Llama 4 405B specsLlama 3.2 3B vs Llama 4 405BAmazon Nova Micro vs Llama 4 405B

Frequently asked

  • Is Llama 3.2 3B or Amazon Nova Micro cheaper?
    Per-token pricing isn't published for at least one of these models, check each model's spec page for current rates.
  • Which has the larger context window?
    Both Llama 3.2 3B and Amazon Nova Micro ship a 128K-token context window.
  • Is Llama 3.2 3B or Amazon Nova Micro better for coding?
    Both Llama 3.2 3B 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?
    Llama 3.2 3B ships open weights (Llama 3 Community License). Amazon Nova Micro is API-only.
  • When were Llama 3.2 3B and Amazon Nova Micro released?
    Llama 3.2 3B was released by Meta on 2024-09-25. Amazon Nova Micro was released by Other on 2024-12-03.
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