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DeepSeek R1 vs o4-mini
A detailed comparison of DeepSeek R1 (DeepSeek) and o4-mini (OpenAI) across pricing, performance, and features.
Pricing Comparison
| Metric | DeepSeek R1 | o4-mini | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.55 | $1.10 | +100% |
| Output / 1M tokens | $2.19 | $4.40 | +101% |
| Context window | 128K | 200K | — |
| Max output | 64K | 100K | — |
Benchmark Comparison
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 84% | 85% |
| HumanEval | 92% | 93.5% |
| GPQA | 71.5% | 76% |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| 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
o4-mini Strengths
- ✓Affordable reasoning model
- ✓200K context window
- ✓Good for math and science
o4-mini Weaknesses
- ✗Slower than non-reasoning models
- ✗Reasoning tokens add to effective cost
Quick Verdict
Best value: DeepSeek R1 is the more affordable option at $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens.
Higher benchmarks: o4-mini scores higher on average across available benchmarks (84.8% avg).
Larger context: o4-mini supports 200K tokens.
Choose DeepSeek R1 if cost matters most. Choose o4-mini if you need the best possible quality for complex tasks.