Amazon Nova Premier vs Reka Flash 3.1

Amazon · US  |  Reka AI · US · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Pick Amazon Nova Premier for 1m-token context with deep aws bedrock integration or amazon's most capable nova model, positioned as a 'teacher' for distilling smaller models. Pick Reka Flash 3.1 for a 21b-parameter reasoning model, small enough for local/on-device deployment (a 3.5-bit quantized build exists) or strong base for fine-tuning agentic tasks - notably improved coding since the original flash 3. Choose Reka Flash 3.1 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Amazon Nova Premier if you want a managed API.

Amazon Nova Premier (Amazon) and Reka Flash 3.1 (Reka AI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Amazon Nova Premier is amazon's flagship 1M-context Nova model on AWS Bedrock - a useful ecosystem anchor and distillation teacher, but weak and pricey on independent intelligence. Reka Flash 3.1 is reka AI's compact 21B open-weight reasoning model - small enough to run locally, from a team of DeepMind and Meta alumni. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecAmazon Nova PremierReka Flash 3.1
ProviderAmazon (US) Reka AI (US)
ReleasedApril 30, 2025 July 2025
Context window1M (~1,500 pages) 32K (~49 pages)
Price (in/out)$2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight?No — API only Yes — self-hostable
Modalitiestext, image text, code
SWE-Bench VerifiedNot published Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published Not published

Who wins what

1M-token context with deep AWS Bedrock integration

Amazon Nova Premier

Its 1M window holds about 31× more than Reka Flash 3.1's 32K in a single prompt.

Amazon's most capable Nova model, positioned as a 'teacher' for distilling smaller models

Amazon Nova Premier

Reka Flash 3.1 is comparatively weak here — a relatively small 32K context window next to million-token frontier models

A natural fit for teams already building on AWS

Amazon Nova Premier

Amazon's flagship 1M-context Nova model on AWS Bedrock - a useful ecosystem anchor and distillation teacher, but weak and pricey on independent intelligence — and it carries the larger 1M context.

A 21B-parameter reasoning model, small enough for local/on-device deployment (a 3.5-bit quantized build exists)

Reka Flash 3.1

Open weights make this possible at all — Amazon Nova Premier is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.

Strong base for fine-tuning agentic tasks - notably improved coding since the original Flash 3

Reka Flash 3.1

Reka AI's compact 21B open-weight reasoning model - small enough to run locally, from a team of DeepMind and Meta alumni — and its weights are open while Amazon Nova Premier is API-only.

Fully open weights (Apache 2.0) from a frontier-caliber research team

Reka Flash 3.1

Amazon Nova Premier is comparatively weak here — a 2025 model - older than the 2026 frontier it competes against

Lowest cost at scale

Reka Flash 3.1

Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Amazon Nova Premier's $2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens.

Largest single-prompt input

Amazon Nova Premier

Its 1M window is about 31× larger than Reka Flash 3.1's 32K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.

Which should you pick?

A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume

Reka Flash 3.1

At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Amazon Nova Premier, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

Amazon Nova Premier

Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.

A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs

Reka Flash 3.1

Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Amazon Nova Premier is API-only.

Anyone whose priority is 1m-token context with deep aws bedrock integration

Amazon Nova Premier

It is specifically built for that.

Anyone whose priority is a 21b-parameter reasoning model, small enough for local/on-device deployment (a 3.5-bit quantized build exists)

Reka Flash 3.1

That is its strongest area.

Amazon Nova Premier: where it fits

Amazon's flagship 1M-context Nova model on AWS Bedrock - a useful ecosystem anchor and distillation teacher, but weak and pricey on independent intelligence. Released April 30, 2025 by Amazon, it is built for 1M-token context with deep AWS Bedrock integration, amazon's most capable Nova model, positioned as a 'teacher' for distilling smaller models, a natural fit for teams already building on AWS, and multimodal input for complex reasoning across text and images.

Its trade-offs are real: weak on independent intelligence - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 13, below average for its tier, expensive for its score at $2.50/$12.50 per million tokens, a 2025 model - older than the 2026 frontier it competes against, and sources disagree on modalities (Amazon cites image input; some evaluations list text-only). At $2.5 in / $12.5 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.

Reka Flash 3.1: where it fits

Reka AI's compact 21B open-weight reasoning model - small enough to run locally, from a team of DeepMind and Meta alumni. Released July 2025 by Reka AI, it is built for a 21B-parameter reasoning model, small enough for local/on-device deployment (a 3.5-bit quantized build exists), strong base for fine-tuning agentic tasks - notably improved coding since the original Flash 3, fully open weights (Apache 2.0) from a frontier-caliber research team, and built by alumni from Google DeepMind and Meta's AI labs.

Its trade-offs: a relatively small 32K context window next to million-token frontier models, smaller and less capable overall than flagship frontier models from major labs, and reka's broader roadmap has shifted toward robotics/world models after merging with Moonvalley in June 2026, raising questions about ongoing LLM investment. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.

The bottom line for this matchup

The defining split here is open vs. closed. Reka Flash 3.1 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Amazon Nova Premier gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.

Want both Amazon Nova Premier and Reka Flash 3.1 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.

See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is Amazon Nova Premier or Reka Flash 3.1 better for coding?

Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Premier leans toward 1m-token context with deep aws bedrock integration while Reka Flash 3.1 leans toward a 21b-parameter reasoning model, small enough for local/on-device deployment (a 3.5-bit quantized build exists), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.

Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Premier or Reka Flash 3.1?

Reka Flash 3.1 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Amazon Nova Premier is API-metered at $2.5/$12.5 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.

Which has the bigger context window?

Amazon Nova Premier — 1M vs 32K, about 31× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.

Can I use both Amazon Nova Premier and Reka Flash 3.1 together?

Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Premier, Reka Flash 3.1 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.

Which is newer, Amazon Nova Premier or Reka Flash 3.1?

Reka Flash 3.1 — released July 2025, about 2 months after Amazon Nova Premier.

Related comparisons

Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.