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DeepSeek R1 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
A detailed comparison of DeepSeek R1 (DeepSeek) and Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic) across pricing, performance, and features.
Pricing Comparison
| Metric | DeepSeek R1 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.55 | $3.00 | +445% |
| Output / 1M tokens | $2.19 | $15.00 | +585% |
| Context window | 128K | 200K | — |
| Max output | 64K | 16K | — |
Benchmark Comparison
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 84% | 86% |
| HumanEval | 92% | 94% |
| GPQA | 71.5% | 70% |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|
| code | ✓ | ✓ |
| reasoning | ✓ | ✓ |
| text | ✓ | ✓ |
| tool-use | ✗ | ✓ |
| vision | ✗ | ✓ |
DeepSeek R1 Strengths
- ✓Cheapest reasoning model available
- ✓Strong math and science performance
- ✓Open-source with off-peak discounts
DeepSeek R1 Weaknesses
- ✗Slower than non-reasoning models
- ✗No vision or tool-use
- ✗China-based — availability concerns
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Strengths
- ✓Opus 4.5 quality at 1/5th the cost
- ✓Best value for production workloads
- ✓1M context in beta
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Weaknesses
- ✗Long context pricing doubles above 200K
- ✗Slightly below Opus 4.6 on hardest tasks
Quick Verdict
Best value: DeepSeek R1 is the more affordable option at $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens.
Higher benchmarks: Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores higher on average across available benchmarks (83.3% avg).
Larger context: Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 200K tokens.
Choose DeepSeek R1 if cost matters most. Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 if you need the best possible quality for complex tasks.