Compare / Amazon vs OpenAI
Amazon vs OpenAI: which AI lab is ahead?
Each lab's best model on sale goes head to head on every kind of work we measure, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. 31 models in all; a lab is only as good as the model you would actually pick from it.
Kinds of work led by each lab's best model there, of the 4 both are measured on.
Results as of 8 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-08-4199ce0620fe). Models on sale means listed on OpenRouter today.
Amazon or OpenAI? The short answer
OpenAI is ahead: its best models beat Amazon's in 3 of the 4 kinds of work both are measured on; Amazon leads in 1.
- Pick Amazon for sticking to the facts.
- Pick OpenAI for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge and writing.
- OpenAI's GPT-6.1 Sol is #2 on our overall leaderboard; no Amazon model has enough of our results to be ranked there yet.
- Prices start at $0.061 per million tokens for Amazon (Nova Micro 1.0) and $0.060 for OpenAI (gpt-oss-20b).
Head to head
Each line names the model behind the number. Prices are blended, three input tokens to one output, at the developer's list price where we have read it; see every model's price. Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis; overall score from our leaderboard.
Which lab is better for what
For each kind of work, each lab's best model there and its rank among every model on sale. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.
Every model, by intelligence and price
Each dot is a model on sale with an Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis. Up is smarter; left is cheaper. Hover or tap a dot for its name.
AmazonOpenAI
On our overall leaderboard
The 4 of their models we rank overall: one score out of 100 across everything we publish (how the score works). Only models with enough of our own results are ranked.
- #2GPT-6.1 Sol81
- #3GPT-6 Astra79
- #4GPT-6 Sol69
- #15GPT-6 Luna40
Benchmark by benchmark
The headline result of every benchmark both labs have models on: each lab's best model and its rank among the models on sale. Green marks the better rank.
| Measure | Amazon | OpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Agents and tool use | ||
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard (BFCL) V4 · Overall accuracy · BFCL% correct, higher is better | 27.1%Nova 2 Lite · 32 of 38 | 63.1%o3 · 5 of 38 |
| Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 2.1% of tasks, higher is better | 16.1%Nova 2 Lite · 87 of 115 | 89.9%GPT-6 Astra · 2 of 115 |
| Reasoning and knowledge | ||
| Artificial Analysis · Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better | 13.4Nova 2 Lite · 119 of 198 | 52.7GPT-6 Astra · 4 of 198 |
| Artificial Analysis · Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better | 11.6%Nova 2 Lite · 124 of 197 | 54.7%GPT-6 Astra · 6 of 197 |
| Artificial Analysis · GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better | 81.1%Nova 2 Lite · 92 of 187 | 96.3%GPT-6 Astra · 1 of 187 |
| Sticking to the facts | ||
| Vectara Hallucination Leaderboard · Hallucination rate · Vectara% of summaries, lower is better | 5.1%Nova 2 Lite · 6 of 79 | 3.1%GPT-5.4 nano · 1 of 79 |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better | 1,380Nova 2 Lite · 103 of 113 | 1,486GPT-5.5 · 5 of 113 |
| Writing | ||
| Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,335Nova 2 Lite · 138 of 166 | 1,484GPT-5.6 Sol · 14 of 166 |
| UGI Leaderboard · Writing score · UGIscore out of 100, higher is better | 23.5Nova 2 Lite · 131 of 138 | 69.7GPT-5.5 · 11 of 138 |
Quick answers
Is Amazon or OpenAI better?
OpenAI is ahead: its best models beat Amazon's in 3 of the 4 kinds of work both are measured on; Amazon leads in 1.
What is Amazon's best model?
Nova 2 Lite: 13.4 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
What is OpenAI's best model?
GPT-6.1 Sol: #2 on the Spring Prompt overall leaderboard and 51.8 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Amazon or OpenAI?
OpenAI: its best model there, GPT-6.1 Sol, ranks 3 of 164 models on sale, against 133 for Amazon's Nova 2 Lite.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Amazon or OpenAI?
OpenAI: its best model there, GPT-6 Astra, ranks 3 of 198 models on sale, against 116 for Amazon's Nova 2 Lite.
Which is better for writing, Amazon or OpenAI?
OpenAI: its best model there, GPT-5.5, ranks 14 of 188 models on sale, against 169 for Amazon's Nova 2 Lite.
Which is cheaper, Amazon or OpenAI?
OpenAI's cheapest model with results, gpt-oss-20b, costs $0.060 per million tokens (three input to one output), against $0.061 for Nova Micro 1.0 from Amazon.
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- Alibaba vs OpenAIBest model against best model
- Mistral AI vs OpenAIBest model against best model
- OpenAI vs Z.aiBest model against best model
Which model is best for your product?
Benchmarks aren't your data. We test the models from Amazon, OpenAI and the rest on your own tasks, with the cost of every answer.