DeepSeek R1 vs DeepSeek V3

Side-by-side comparison of pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, and use case fit.

D

DeepSeek R1

DeepSeek

Overall 77

reasoning

D

DeepSeek V3

DeepSeek

Overall 78

standard

Capability radar

Normalized coding, reasoning, writing, vision, context, and value

DeepSeek R1DeepSeek V3

Comparison of DeepSeek R1 vs DeepSeek V3
Metric	DeepSeek R1	DeepSeek V3
Input Price / 1M	$0.55	$0.27
Output Price / 1M	$2.19	$1.10
Combined Price / 1M	$2.74	$1.37
Context Window	64,000	64,000
Coding Score	94	91
Reasoning Score	95	90
Vision Score	35	45
Audio	No	No
Streaming	Yes	Yes
Function Calling	Yes	Yes
Latency Tier	reasoning	standard
Release Date	1/20/2025	12/26/2024

DeepSeek R1 — Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

Reasoning at low cost
Open weights available

Weaknesses

No vision
Slower inference
64K context

DeepSeek V3 — Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

Exceptional value
Strong coding
MoE efficiency

Weaknesses

64K context
China-based hosting considerations

Use Case Verdicts

Coding

DeepSeek R1 scores 94 vs 91 on coding benchmarks.

General Chat

DeepSeek V3 leads on writing quality (85 vs 82).

Long Context

DeepSeek R1 offers 64K tokens vs 64K.

Cost Efficiency

DeepSeek V3 is cheaper at $1.37/M combined vs $2.74/M.

Enterprise Use

DeepSeek R1 combines strong reasoning, tooling, and context for enterprise workloads.

Agent Workflows

DeepSeek R1 is better suited for agentic workflows with tool use and coding capability.