Model comparison
GLM-5.1 vs Nova 2 Lite
GLM-5.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.8 to 39.7 on the Noometry Index. Nova 2 Lite costs 2.5× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GLM-5.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Last verified . 17 shared benchmarks.
Summary
- They share 17 benchmarks with published results for both. GLM-5.1 scores higher in 9 categories and Nova 2 Lite in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where GLM-5.1 leads 66.9 to 53.9.
- Nova 2 Lite is cheaper at $0.30 / $2.50 per million input/output tokens, against $1.40 / $4.40 for GLM-5.1.
- Nova 2 Lite accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 200K.
- GLM-5.1 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.
Side by side
| GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Z.ai (Zhipu) | Amazon |
| Noometry Index | 47.8 | 39.7 |
| Released | 2026-04-07 | 2025-12-01 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |
| Context window | 200K | 1M |
| Max output | 131K | 64K |
| Input $ / M tokens | $1.40 | $0.30 |
| Output $ / M tokens | $4.40 | $2.50 |
| Results tracked | 41 | 19 |
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Category by category
Coding GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 48.7 (#55), Nova 2 Lite: 40.7 (#134)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1485 | 1385 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 74.2% | — |
| LMArena WebDev | 1508 | — |
| SciCode | 43.8% | — |
| WeirdML | 57.1% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 887.1 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Too close to call
GLM-5.1: 24.9 (#113), Nova 2 Lite: 24.1 (#121)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 40.9% | — |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard | — | 27.1% |
| ExploitBench | 18.1% | — |
| GBAEval | 0% | — |
| Vending-Bench 2 | 5,634 | — |
Reasoning GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 39.1 (#60), Nova 2 Lite: 27.5 (#118)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1472 | 1364 |
| SimpleBench | 55.1% | — |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 77.7% | — |
| CritPt | 4.6% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 19% | — |
| Thematic Generalization | 69.8% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 149.84 | — |
Math GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 49.7 (#60), Nova 2 Lite: 37.5 (#156)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1473 | 1359 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 36.8% | — |
| MathArena Final-Answer Competitions | 67.1% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 93.3% | — |
| ProofBench | 22.2% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | 33.4% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1) | 12.5% | — |
Knowledge GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 54.9 (#50), Nova 2 Lite: 43.0 (#94)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1476 | 1358 |
| GPQA Diamond | 89.9% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 34% | — |
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | — | 5.1% |
Multilingual GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 55.0 (#36), Nova 2 Lite: 47.1 (#153)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1447 | 1337 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1515 | 1364 |
| LMArena French | 1474 | 1381 |
| LMArena German | 1465 | 1343 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1434 | 1271 |
| LMArena Korean | 1418 | 1284 |
| LMArena Russian | 1454 | 1343 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1469 | 1373 |
Instruction Following GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 76.3 (#42), Nova 2 Lite: 70.5 (#161)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1451 | 1335 |
Long Context GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 44.9 (#53), Nova 2 Lite: 40.6 (#150)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1466 | 1335 |
Writing & Preference GLM-5.1 leads
GLM-5.1: 66.9 (#31), Nova 2 Lite: 53.9 (#154)
| Benchmark | GLM-5.1 | Nova 2 Lite |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1461 | 1362 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1453 | 1291 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1472 | 1338 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1592 | — |
Frequently asked questions
Is GLM-5.1 better than Nova 2 Lite?
GLM-5.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 47.8 to 39.7 on the Noometry Index. Nova 2 Lite costs 2.5× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GLM-5.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.
Which is cheaper, GLM-5.1 or Nova 2 Lite?
Nova 2 Lite is cheaper. It lists at $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; GLM-5.1 lists at $1.40 and $4.40.
Is GLM-5.1 or Nova 2 Lite better for coding?
GLM-5.1 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 48.7 versus 40.7 in the Noometry coding category.
Which has the bigger context window?
Nova 2 Lite does, with 1M tokens against 200K.
How many benchmarks do GLM-5.1 and Nova 2 Lite share?
17 benchmarks have published results for both models. GLM-5.1 has 41 scored results on Noometry and Nova 2 Lite has 19.