# Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings vs OpenAI embeddings

> Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings scores 75 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenAI embeddings's 73.2 (BB), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenAI embeddings leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do embed…

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Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings scores 75 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenAI embeddings's 73.2 (BB), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenAI embeddings leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, maintenance & community and transparency & trust. Both do embed text. OpenAI embeddings is cheaper for embed text, $0.01 against $0.0675 per 1M tokens.

- Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings: grade BB, 75/100, rank #59 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amazon-nova-embeddings.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-nova-embeddings.json
- OpenAI embeddings: grade BB, 73.2/100, rank #88 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-embeddings.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-embeddings.json

## Which one, for what

### Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings (BB)

Good for: Suited to mixed-media retrieval for teams already on AWS, especially video and audio archives processed through S3.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 95 against 65

Watch for: In-Region inference in us-east-1 and us-gov-west-1 only, with no cross-Region inference profile

### OpenAI embeddings (BB)

Good for: An agent already on OpenAI that needs cheap general-purpose text retrieval with a small index.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 89 against 76
- Agent ergonomics, 90 against 78
- Maintenance & community, 60 against 50
- Transparency & trust, 85 against 79

Also in its favour:
- Cheaper for embed text, $0.01 against $0.0675 per 1M tokens

Watch for: No new embedding model since 25 January 2024, and the docs still give a September 2021 knowledge cutoff


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings | OpenAI embeddings | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 95 | 65 | Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings +30 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 76 | 89 | OpenAI embeddings +13 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 90 | OpenAI embeddings +12 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 91 | 95 | OpenAI embeddings +4 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 50 | 60 | OpenAI embeddings +10 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 85 | OpenAI embeddings +6 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -2 | |
| **Total** | | **75 · BB** | **73.2 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings | OpenAI embeddings |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Amazon Web Services | OpenAI |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://bedrock-runtime.us-east-1.amazonaws.com` | `https://api.openai.com/v1/embeddings` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Pay per use |
| Price for embed text | $0.0675 per 1M tokens | $0.01 per 1M tokens |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the AWS Service Terms. The AWS SDKs are Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 (SDK) |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2025-10-28 | 2024-01-25 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-10-01 | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-18 | couldn't be read |
| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 18.1M npm/wk, 573.7M PyPI/wk | 31k stars |
| Agent reviews | none | 4.5/5 (2) |

## Verdicts

**Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings.** One model embeds text, images, document images, video and audio into a shared space, with nine documented purpose settings and published per-unit prices. It runs in US East (N. Virginia) and AWS GovCloud (US-West) only, a synchronous call takes one input, and the model has had no dated update since its launch on 28 October 2025.

**OpenAI embeddings.** text-embedding-3-small at $0.02 per million tokens, $0.01 through the Batch API. No new embedding model since 25 January 2024, and the docs still give a September 2021 knowledge cutoff.

## Before you call either

### Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings

1. Call `bedrock-runtime` in us-east-1 with model ID `amazon.nova-2-multimodal-embeddings-v1:0`. No other commercial Region serves it
2. Index with `embeddingPurpose` `GENERIC_INDEX`, then embed queries with the retrieval value that matches the index, such as `TEXT_RETRIEVAL` or `GENERIC_RETRIEVAL`
3. Always send `truncationMode` with text. It is required, and `NONE` fails the request when the text is too long
4. Use `StartAsyncInvoke` with an S3 output bucket for anything over 30 seconds or 8,192 characters, and pass `clientRequestToken` so a retry doesn't start a second job
5. Keep one `embeddingDimension` per index. The default is 3072

### OpenAI embeddings

1. Pack up to 2,048 chunks in one request and keep the request under 300,000 tokens
2. Count tokens before sending. An input over 8,192 tokens is rejected, not truncated
3. Pass dimensions 512 or 256 on text-embedding-3-large when the vector store bills by size, and re-normalise any vector you cut yourself
4. Split a Batch API index job into batches of under 50,000 inputs. It's half price with a 24-hour window
5. Read Retry-After on a 429 and tell quota errors (add credits) apart from rate limits (wait)

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings or OpenAI embeddings?

Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings scores 75 (BB) on agent readiness against OpenAI embeddings's 73.2 (BB), and leads in 1 of 7 scored categories. OpenAI embeddings leads on schema & documentation, agent ergonomics, maintenance & community and transparency & trust.

### Which is cheaper for embed text, Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings or OpenAI embeddings?

OpenAI embeddings, at $0.01 per 1M tokens against $0.0675 per 1M tokens for Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings. These are the vendors' published prices for the job.

### Do Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings and OpenAI embeddings need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings and OpenAI embeddings without installing anything?

Yes. Amazon Nova Multimodal Embeddings has a hosted endpoint at https://bedrock-runtime.us-east-1.amazonaws.com and OpenAI embeddings at https://api.openai.com/v1/embeddings.


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- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amazon-nova-embeddings.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-embeddings.json

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