Llama 3.1 405B vs Amazon Nova Lite

Compare Llama 3.1 405B and Amazon Nova Lite: 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 Llama 3.1 405B Amazon Nova Lite
CategoryOpen SourceCompact
Parameters405B~40B
Context Window128K300K
Input Price$0.08/1M tokens$0.003/1M tokens
Output Price$0.14/1M tokens$0.012/1M tokens
Latency~600ms~150ms

Choose Llama 3.1 405B when:

  • ✓ Premium tasks
  • ✓ Research
  • ✓ Fine-tuning base
Key Strengths:

Largest open model, Highest open-source quality

Choose Amazon Nova Lite when:

  • ✓ Budget multimodal
  • ✓ High-volume
  • ✓ Simple tasks
Key Strengths:

Ultra-low cost, 300K context, Fast

Verdict: Llama 3.1 405B vs Amazon Nova Lite

For cost efficiency, Amazon Nova Lite wins at $0.003/1M input tokens. For speed, Amazon Nova Lite is faster at ~150ms. Llama 3.1 405B excels at Premium tasks while Amazon Nova Lite is better for Budget multimodal. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

Llama 3.1 405B costs $0.08/1M input tokens and $0.14/1M output tokens. Amazon Nova Lite costs $0.003 input and $0.012 output. Amazon Nova Lite is 26.7x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Llama 3.1 405B has a 128K context window with ~600ms latency. Amazon Nova Lite offers 300K context at ~150ms. Amazon Nova Lite has the larger context window.

Best For

Llama 3.1 405B (Open Source) is optimized for: Premium tasks, Research, Fine-tuning base. Amazon Nova Lite (Compact) works best for: Budget multimodal, High-volume, Simple tasks.

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 Llama 3.1 405B
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="llama-3-1-405b",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use Amazon Nova Lite
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="amazon-nova-lite",
    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, Llama 3.1 405B or Amazon Nova Lite?

Llama 3.1 405B (Open Source, 405B) offers Largest open model. Amazon Nova Lite (Compact, ~40B) offers Ultra-low cost. Choose Llama 3.1 405B for Premium tasks or Amazon Nova Lite for Budget multimodal.

How much does Llama 3.1 405B cost vs Amazon Nova Lite?

Llama 3.1 405B: $0.08/1M input, $0.14/1M output. Amazon Nova Lite: $0.003/1M input, $0.012/1M 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 Llama 3.1 405B and Amazon Nova Lite 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.