OpenAI o3 vs DeepSeek R1
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
OpenAI o3
OpenAINext generation reasoning model. Improved coding and math over o1.
| Input | $10.00/M |
| Output | $40.00/M |
| Context | 200K tokens |
| Best For | Advanced coding, complex problem-solving |
| Benchmark | 85/100 |
DeepSeek R1
DeepSeekDeepSeek's reasoning model. Open-weight model that rivals o1 for complex reasoning tasks.
| Input | $0.140/M |
| Output | $0.550/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | Math, coding, science reasoning at low cost |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | OpenAI o3 | DeepSeek R1 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $1.55 | $0.02 | DeepSeek R1 saves $1.53 (99%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $11.50 | $0.16 | DeepSeek R1 saves $11.34 (99%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $57.50 | $0.80 | DeepSeek R1 saves $56.70 (99%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $2.75 | $0.04 | DeepSeek R1 saves $2.71 (99%) |
Verdict
DeepSeek R1 wins on both price and performance — $0.140/M input with a benchmark score of N/A/100.
For most developers, this is the clear choice between these two models.
Compare with Other Models
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AnthropicAnthropic's balanced model for coding and general tasks. Best price-performance ratio in the Claude family.
Claude Opus 4
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Claude 3.5 Sonnet
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Claude 3.5 Haiku
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Claude 3 Opus
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Claude 3 Sonnet
AnthropicFirst generation Sonnet. Balanced performance for general tasks.