High-volume, cost-sensitive work
Choose o3-mini
o3-mini costs 3% less on a typical mix of three input tokens for every output token ($1.93 against $1.98 per million tokens).
DeepSeek V4 Pro vs o3-mini: price, context and capabilities
Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro for writing and code generation, reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents), very long inputs and the latest release. Choose o3-mini for high-volume, cost-sensitive work and images as input.
In short
- o3-mini is 3% cheaper than DeepSeek V4 Pro at the headline price ($1.93 / 1M tokens vs $1.98 / 1M tokens).
- DeepSeek V4 Pro reads more per request: 1M tokens against 200k.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro is the newer model (August 2026, against Jan 31, 2025).
- Only o3-mini offers vision, batch api.
Which should you choose?
Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.
Writing and code generation
Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro
DeepSeek V4 Pro charges $3.96 per million output tokens, against $4.40 for o3-mini. Output dominates the bill when answers are long.
Reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents)
Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro
DeepSeek V4 Pro charges $0.04 per million cached input tokens, against $0.55 for o3-mini.
Very long inputs
Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro
DeepSeek V4 Pro reads up to 1M tokens per request, against 200k for o3-mini.
Images as input
Choose o3-mini
o3-mini accepts images as input; DeepSeek V4 Pro does not.
Latest release
Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro
DeepSeek V4 Pro is the newer release (August 2026, against Jan 31, 2025 for o3-mini).
Monthly cost at three volumes
| Volume | DeepSeek V4 Pro | o3-mini | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype: 1M input, 250K output tokens | $2.31 | $2.20 | o3-mini, $0.11 less |
| Production: 20M input, 5M output tokens | $46.20 | $44.00 | o3-mini, $2.20 less |
| Scale: 500M input, 100M output tokens | $1,056 | $990.00 | o3-mini, $66.00 less |
Standard rates, without caching or batch discounts. Volumes are per month.
Specifications side by side
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | o3-mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | OpenAI |
| Category | Language models | Language models |
| Status | Generally available | Deprecated |
| Headline price | $1.98 / 1M tokens | $1.93 / 1M tokens |
| Input | $1.32 / 1M tokens | $1.10 / 1M tokens |
| Output | $3.96 / 1M tokens | $4.40 / 1M tokens |
| Cached input | $0.044 / 1M tokens | $0.55 / 1M tokens |
| Context window | 1M | 200k |
| Max output | 384k | 100k |
| Released | August 2026 | Jan 31, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | No data | October 2023 |
| Licence | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Capabilities | Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching | Vision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API |
| API model id | deepseek-v4-pro | o3-mini |
Benchmarks side by side
Leader in bold.
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4 Pro | o3-mini |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 92.8% | 74.8% |
| Humanity's Last Exam | 41% | 7.9% |
| Intelligence Index | 36 | No data |
| SciCode | 51% | No data |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 80.3% | No data |
| Terminal-Bench Hard | No data | 6.8% |
| τ²-Bench (agentic tool use) | No data | 28.7% |
Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis, run the same way for every model, at the reasoning setting shown. Percentages unless marked as an index.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose DeepSeek V4 Pro or o3-mini?
Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro for writing and code generation, reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents), very long inputs and the latest release. Choose o3-mini for high-volume, cost-sensitive work and images as input.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 Pro or o3-mini?
o3-mini is 3% cheaper than DeepSeek V4 Pro at the headline price ($1.93 / 1M tokens vs $1.98 / 1M tokens).
Which has the larger context window, DeepSeek V4 Pro or o3-mini?
DeepSeek V4 Pro reads more per request: 1M tokens against 200k.
What is the difference between DeepSeek V4 Pro and o3-mini?
DeepSeek V4 Pro is made by DeepSeek and o3-mini by OpenAI. o3-mini is 3% cheaper than DeepSeek V4 Pro at the headline price ($1.93 / 1M tokens vs $1.98 / 1M tokens). DeepSeek V4 Pro reads more per request: 1M tokens against 200k. DeepSeek V4 Pro is the newer model (August 2026, against Jan 31, 2025). Only o3-mini offers vision, batch api.
How much do DeepSeek V4 Pro and o3-mini cost per month?
At 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month, DeepSeek V4 Pro costs $46.20 and o3-mini costs $44.00, at standard rates.
Which is newer, DeepSeek V4 Pro or o3-mini?
DeepSeek V4 Pro was released on August 2026 and o3-mini on Jan 31, 2025.