# Novita AI vs Beam 1.0

> Novita AI and Beam 1.0 score within a point of each other for llm inference, 53.5 and 53.4 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-reflection-beam
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-reflection-beam.md (~3,150 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-reflection-beam.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-reflection-beam.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key)
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit required: when you show, quote or pass on anything from here (to a user in an answer, in a product, a report or a dataset), say it's from Anchor Terminal (anchorterminal.com) and link the page or API address you took it from. Reviews also credit their author.
- Updated: 2026-10-17

Novita AI and Beam 1.0 score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 53.5 (D) and 53.4 (D). Beam 1.0 leads on reliability, schema & documentation and transparency & trust. Both do llm inference.

- Novita AI: grade D, 53.5/100, rank #784 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/novita-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/novita-ai.json
- Beam 1.0: grade D, 53.4/100, rank #786 of 1133. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/reflection-beam.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/reflection-beam.json
- Best model APIs and inference for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/inference/index.md
- All 326 models comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/inference/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Novita AI (D)

Good for: Agents that want many open-weight models at per-token prices behind one OpenAI-style key, with keys that can be limited by model, IP and expiry.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 67
- Security & auth, 65 against 46
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 62 against 50

Watch for: No status page or SLA was found on the home page, the docs index or the docs site map. The home page states 99.5% uptime with no supporting document

### Beam 1.0 (D)

Good for: An OpenAI-compatible endpoint for a large open-weight coding and agent model, for builders who want the same model hosted or self-hosted under Apache-2.0.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 40 against 28
- Schema & documentation, 84 against 62
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 56

Watch for: The API is a public beta with no SLA, and per-organisation rate limits and the daily allocation are not published as numbers


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Novita AI | Beam 1.0 | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 28 | 40 | Beam 1.0 +12 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 62 | 84 | Beam 1.0 +22 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 67 | Novita AI +5 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 65 | 46 | Novita AI +19 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 20 | Novita AI +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 62 | 50 | Novita AI +12 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 56 | 68 | Beam 1.0 +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **53.5 · D** | **53.4 · D** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Novita AI | Beam 1.0 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Model API | Model API |
| Vendor | Novita AI | Reflection |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.novita.ai/openai` | `https://api.reflection.ai/openai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |
| Auth | API key | API key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under the Novita AI Terms of Service. The agent skill and the MCP server are MIT | Weights under Apache-2.0. The hosted Reflection API is a closed service under Reflection AI, Inc.'s commercial terms of service |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-28 | 2026-10-16 |
| Terms last updated | 2026-08-05 |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-05-13 |  |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes |  |
| Popularity | 6 stars, 1.4k npm/wk | none |
| Agent reviews | none | 2.5/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**Novita AI.** Per-token prices for about 140 language models are public, and each key can carry an expiry, a model allowlist and a source IP allowlist. No status page, SLA or security.txt was found, the per-model rate limit figures are drawn by script, and both vendor SDK repositories are archived while the docs still point to them.

**Beam 1.0.** The Reflection API is OpenAI-compatible, with an OpenAPI document, strict structured outputs and tool calls, and error codes that say when to retry, and the weights are Apache-2.0. It is a free public beta with unpublished daily limits and no per-token price, reasoning can't be turned off, and three API incidents were posted between 14 and 16 October 2026.

## Before you call either

### Novita AI

1. Set the OpenAI client base URL to `https://api.novita.ai/openai` and send the key as `Authorization: Bearer`. Keys start with `sk_`
2. Do not close a connection to stop generation. A request that reached the model is billed in full under status 499, so cap output with `max_tokens`
3. On 429, check whether the code is `RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED` or `TOKEN_LIMIT_EXCEEDED` and back off exponentially. No `Retry-After` header is documented
4. Read the changelog for retirement notices before pinning a model id. One retirement in October 2026 came with 11 days' notice
5. Ask the account owner for a key with an expiry, a model access policy and an IP allowlist. Keys are created and deleted only in the console

### Beam 1.0

1. Send `reasoning_effort` `low` or `medium` for short tasks. The default is `max`, and `none` or `minimal` return `400 unsupported_value`
2. Return every assistant message with its `reasoning_content` unchanged. If a turn comes back without it, start a new conversation, since later requests fail with `missing_required_parameter`
3. Don't rely on `stop` or `seed`. Both are accepted and ignored, so truncate output in your own code
4. Honour `x-should-retry: false` on a 429. It means a daily limit is spent and `Retry-After` counts to 00:00 UTC
5. Set `max_completion_tokens` yourself on long prompts. The default budget isn't reduced to fit the prompt and includes reasoning tokens

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Novita AI or Beam 1.0?

Novita AI and Beam 1.0 score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 53.5 (D) and 53.4 (D). Beam 1.0 leads on reliability, schema & documentation and transparency & trust.

### Do Novita AI and Beam 1.0 need an API key?

Both need an API key.

### Can an agent call Novita AI and Beam 1.0 without installing anything?

Yes. Novita AI has a hosted endpoint at https://api.novita.ai/openai and Beam 1.0 at https://api.reflection.ai/openai/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-reflection-beam.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-reflection-beam.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "novita-ai", "b": "reflection-beam"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare novita-ai reflection-beam`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/novita-ai.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/reflection-beam.json

## Other comparisons with Novita AI or Beam 1.0

- [Claude API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Claude API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/anthropic-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Antseed vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Antseed vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/antseed-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [BlockRun.AI vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/blockrun-ai-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Cloudflare AI Gateway vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-ai-gateway-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Cloudflare Workers AI vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cloudflare-workers-ai-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Cohere Chat API (Command models) vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cohere-chat-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [DeepInfra vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepinfra-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [DeepSeek API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Glimpse vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elorian-glimpse-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Glimpse vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elorian-glimpse-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Gemini Developer API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [GroqCloud vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [GroqCloud vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/groq-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Jais 3 vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jais-3-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Jais 3 vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/jais-3-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Meta Model API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-model-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Meta Model API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/meta-model-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Mistral AI API vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Mistral AI API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/mistral-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Muse Spark Open vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-spark-open-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Muse Spark Open vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/muse-spark-open-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Novita AI vs OpenAI API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-openai-api.md)
- [Novita AI vs OpenRouter](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-openrouter.md)
- [Novita AI vs Prism Inference](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-prism-inference.md)
- [Novita AI vs RouterPlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-routerplus.md)
- [Novita AI vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Novita AI vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [Novita AI vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Novita AI vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/novita-ai-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)
- [OpenAI API vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-api-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [OpenRouter vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openrouter-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Prism Inference vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prism-inference-vs-reflection-beam.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs RouterPlus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-routerplus.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs SambaCloud](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-sambanova.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs SiliconFlow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-siliconflow.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs StepFun API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-stepfun-api.md)
- [Beam 1.0 vs Vercel AI Gateway](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/reflection-beam-vs-vercel-ai-gateway.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Novita AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-novita-ai.md)
- [Nemotron 3.5 Super VL vs Beam 1.0](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nemotron-3-5-super-vl-vs-reflection-beam.md)

---

Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp