Which model is better: DeepSeek-R1 or OpenAI o1?

DeepSeek-R1 is 96.3% cheaper for input tokens ($0.55 vs. $15.00 per 1M tokens) and $2.19 vs. $60.00 for output tokens (27.3x cost difference). In terms of operational performance, OpenAI o1 delivers faster response latency with 850ms TTFT (950ms faster than DeepSeek-R1). DeepSeek-R1 leads coding benchmarks at 49.2% SWE-bench vs. 48.9% for OpenAI o1.
Verified daily via automated API latency tests and official documentation.

Verified Performance & Unit Economics Delta

Daily synchronized metrics from synthetic latency endpoints and benchmark evaluations.

Metric / Dimension DeepSeek-R1 OpenAI o1 Net Delta / Advantage
Input Cost / 1M Tokens $0.55 $15.00 DeepSeek-R1 is 27.3x cheaper
Output Cost / 1M Tokens $2.19 $60.00 DeepSeek-R1 (96.4% lower)
Avg TTFT Response Latency 1800ms 850ms OpenAI o1 (+950ms faster)
SWE-bench Verified (Coding) 49.2% 48.9% DeepSeek-R1 (+0.3% lead)
Inference Value Score (IVR) 99.9 / 100 21 / 100 DeepSeek-R1 (+78.9 pts)

Interactive Monthly Token Economics & ROI Forecaster

Model your expected production workload across prompt (input) and completion (output) tokens.

Live Calculation Engine
10.0M Tokens
100K 50M 250M 500M+
2.5M Tokens
100K 10M 50M 100M+

Estimated Monthly Spend

DeepSeek-R1 $5.45

$0.55/1M in · $2.19/1M out

OpenAI o1 $67.50

$15/1M in · $60/1M out

Projected Monthly Cost Reduction
$62.05 / mo
(91.9% lower cost)
A

When to Choose DeepSeek-R1

Choose DeepSeek-R1 when you need Open-weights chain-of-thought reasoning for complex mathematics, algorithmic programming, and scientific research. and have an infrastructure budget aligned with $0.55/1M tokens.

B

When to Choose OpenAI o1

Choose OpenAI o1 when you need Complex PhD-level multi-step science research, formal algorithm synthesis, and high-stakes reasoning pipelines. and prioritize OpenAI ecosystem integration at $15.00/1M tokens.

Related Questions & Decision Factors

Which is cheaper: DeepSeek-R1 or OpenAI o1?

DeepSeek-R1 is cheaper at $0.55/1M input tokens compared to $15.00/1M for OpenAI o1.

Which model has lower latency: DeepSeek-R1 or OpenAI o1?

OpenAI o1 delivers faster response times with an average TTFT of 850ms vs 1800ms for DeepSeek-R1.

When should you choose DeepSeek-R1?

Choose DeepSeek-R1 when you need Open-weights chain-of-thought reasoning for complex mathematics, algorithmic programming, and scientific research. and have an infrastructure budget aligned with $0.55/1M tokens.

When should you choose OpenAI o1?

Choose OpenAI o1 when you need Complex PhD-level multi-step science research, formal algorithm synthesis, and high-stakes reasoning pipelines. and prioritize OpenAI ecosystem integration at $15.00/1M tokens.

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