Which model is better: DeepSeek-R1 or o3-mini?

DeepSeek-R1 is 50.0% cheaper for input tokens ($0.55 vs. $1.10 per 1M tokens) and $2.19 vs. $4.40 for output tokens (2.0x cost difference). In terms of operational performance, o3-mini delivers faster response latency with 1200ms TTFT (600ms faster than DeepSeek-R1). o3-mini leads coding benchmarks at 49.3% SWE-bench vs. 49.2% for DeepSeek-R1.
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 o3-mini Net Delta / Advantage
Input Cost / 1M Tokens $0.55 $1.10 DeepSeek-R1 is 2.0x cheaper
Output Cost / 1M Tokens $2.19 $4.40 DeepSeek-R1 (50.2% lower)
Avg TTFT Response Latency 1800ms 1200ms o3-mini (+600ms faster)
SWE-bench Verified (Coding) 49.2% 49.3% o3-mini (+0.1% lead)
Inference Value Score (IVR) 99.9 / 100 77 / 100 DeepSeek-R1 (+22.9 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

o3-mini $67.50

$1.1/1M in · $4.4/1M 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 o3-mini

Choose o3-mini when you need Cost-efficient STEM reasoning, high-throughput math problem-solving, and structured code synthesis. and prioritize OpenAI ecosystem integration at $1.10/1M tokens.

Related Questions & Decision Factors

Which is cheaper: DeepSeek-R1 or o3-mini?

DeepSeek-R1 is cheaper at $0.55/1M input tokens compared to $1.10/1M for o3-mini.

Which model has lower latency: DeepSeek-R1 or o3-mini?

o3-mini delivers faster response times with an average TTFT of 1200ms 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 o3-mini?

Choose o3-mini when you need Cost-efficient STEM reasoning, high-throughput math problem-solving, and structured code synthesis. and prioritize OpenAI ecosystem integration at $1.10/1M tokens.

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