DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B vs Amazon Nova Micro

Compare DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B and Amazon Nova Micro: pricing, performance, context window, latency, and best use cases. Side-by-side comparison on XALEN.

Updated 2026-05-21 · By Abhishek Raj · Our methodology

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Feature DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B Amazon Nova Micro
CategoryReasoningCompact
Parameters8B~8B
Context Window128K128K
Input Price$0.01/1M tokens$0.001/1M tokens
Output Price$0.02/1M tokens$0.004/1M tokens
Latency~100ms~50ms

Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B when:

  • ✓ Simple reasoning
  • ✓ Classification with logic
  • ✓ Edge
Key Strengths:

Very fast reasoning, Low cost, Compact

Choose Amazon Nova Micro when:

  • ✓ Classification
  • ✓ Intent detection
  • ✓ Preprocessing
Key Strengths:

Cheapest inference, Ultra-fast, Text-only

Verdict: DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B vs Amazon Nova Micro

For cost efficiency, Amazon Nova Micro wins at $0.001/1M input tokens. For speed, DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B is faster at ~100ms. DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B excels at Simple reasoning while Amazon Nova Micro is better for Classification. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B costs $0.01/1M input tokens and $0.02/1M output tokens. Amazon Nova Micro costs $0.001 input and $0.004 output. Amazon Nova Micro is 10.0x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B has a 128K context window with ~100ms latency. Amazon Nova Micro offers 128K context at ~50ms. Both have identical context windows.

Best For

DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B (Reasoning) is optimized for: Simple reasoning, Classification with logic, Edge. Amazon Nova Micro (Compact) works best for: Classification, Intent detection, Preprocessing.

Try Both on XALEN

Both models are available through XALEN's OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between them by changing the model parameter:

from xalen import XALEN

client = XALEN(api_key="xln_test_YOUR_KEY")

# Use DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-r1-distill-8b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Amazon Nova Micro
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="amazon-nova-micro",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

Start Building with XALEN

200+ AI models. One API. Pay-as-you-go.

Get API Key Try in Playground

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B or Amazon Nova Micro?

DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B (Reasoning, 8B) offers Very fast reasoning. Amazon Nova Micro (Compact, ~8B) offers Cheapest inference. Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B for Simple reasoning or Amazon Nova Micro for Classification.

How much does DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B cost vs Amazon Nova Micro?

DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B: $0.01/1M input, $0.02/1M output. Amazon Nova Micro: $0.001/1M input, $0.004/1M output. Both available on XALEN with batch processing at 50% discount.

Can I use both models on XALEN?

Yes. XALEN provides 200+ models through a single OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between DeepSeek R1 Distill 8B and Amazon Nova Micro by changing the model parameter. No code changes needed.

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Last updated: 2026-05-21. Pricing and specifications may change. Check pricing page for latest rates.