OpenAI vs DeepSeek Pricing
DeepSeek is cheaper than OpenAI at the entry level: DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B costs $0.100 per 1M output tokens against $0.140 for gpt-oss-20b. On current flagships, OpenAI's Daybreak Red costs $75.00/1M output against $2.19/1M for DeepSeek's DeepSeek R1. Prices are USD, current as of October 12, 2026.
Per-million-token pricing for OpenAI and DeepSeek, with side-by-side flagship models, cheapest tiers, and context windows. Pricing data syncs weekly from a continuously-updated model catalog — last updated October 12, 2026.
Who wins on what
Cheapest input tokens
$0.02/1MDeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B — $0.02/1M input
Cheapest output tokens
$0.10/1MDeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B — $0.10/1M output
Longest context window
2.0MOpenAI
gpt-5.4 (>272K context length) — 2.0M input tokens
Lowest average output cost
$0.86/1MDeepSeek
Provider-wide average across 24 models
Largest model catalog
135 modelsOpenAI
More options to match cost vs capability
Cheapest cached input
$0.00/1MDeepSeek
DeepSeek V4 Flash — $0.00/1M cached read
Most reasoning models
18 modelsOpenAI
Models with dedicated reasoning / thinking support
Most vision models
19 modelsOpenAI
Models that accept image input
Open-weights available
YesDeepSeek
Offers open-weight models you can self-host
Side-by-side
OpenAI
Full OpenAI pricing →Cheapest input
$0.030
gpt-oss-20b
Cheapest output
$0.140
gpt-oss-20b
Longest context
2.0M
gpt-5.4 (>272K context length)
Avg output / 1M
$30.78
Across catalog
Cheapest cached input
$0.010
GPT-6 Luna
| Model | In/1M | Out/1M | Ctx |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Sol VisionReasoningToolsCache | $2.00 | $10.00 | 1.1M |
| GPT-6 Sol VisionReasoningToolsCache | $2.00 | $10.00 | 1.1M |
| GPT-6 Luna VisionReasoningToolsCache | $0.100 | $0.500 | 1.1M |
| GPT-6 Astra VisionReasoningToolsCache | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1.1M |
| Daybreak Red VisionReasoningToolsCache | $12.50 | $75.00 | 400K |
| gpt-oss-20b | $0.030 | $0.140 | 131K |
DeepSeek
Full DeepSeek pricing →Cheapest input
$0.020
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B
Cheapest output
$0.100
DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B
Longest context
1.0M
DeepSeek Flash
Avg output / 1M
$0.863
Across catalog
Cheapest cached input
$0.0030
DeepSeek V4 Flash
| Model | In/1M | Out/1M | Ctx |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4 Flash VisionReasoningToolsCache | $0.150 | $0.600 | 1.0M |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp VisionReasoningToolsCache | $0.150 | $0.600 | 1.0M |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash VisionReasoningToolsCache | $0.150 | $0.600 | 1.0M |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro ReasoningToolsCache | $0.660 | $1.98 | 1.0M |
| DeepSeek R1 | $0.550 | $2.19 | 66K |
| DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B | $0.020 | $0.100 | 33K |
All prices in USD per 1 million tokens. Showing top 6 models per provider, sorted by output cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenAI or DeepSeek cheaper?
DeepSeek has the cheaper entry point at $0.10/1M output (DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B — $0.10/1M output). Provider-wide, OpenAI averages $30.78/1M output against $0.863/1M for DeepSeek. Which is cheaper for you depends on which model tier your workload actually needs.
How much do OpenAI and DeepSeek cost per 1M tokens?
OpenAI starts at $0.140 per 1M output tokens (gpt-oss-20b), with its current flagship Daybreak Red at $75.00. DeepSeek starts at $0.100 (DeepSeek R1 0528 Qwen3 8B), with DeepSeek R1 at $2.19. Input tokens cost less than output on both.
Which has the larger context window, OpenAI or DeepSeek?
OpenAI — gpt-5.4 (>272K context length) — 2.0M input tokens. For comparison, OpenAI's largest is 2.0M tokens (gpt-5.4 (>272K context length)) and DeepSeek's is 1.0M tokens (DeepSeek Flash).
Which has more reasoning models, OpenAI or DeepSeek?
OpenAI lists 18 reasoning models and DeepSeek lists 4. Reasoning models bill their internal thinking as output tokens, so a reasoning call costs several times a standard completion of the same visible length — compare them on total tokens billed, not headline rate.
Can I self-host OpenAI or DeepSeek models?
DeepSeek publishes open-weight models you can run on your own hardware; OpenAI does not. Self-hosting swaps per-token pricing for GPU-hour cost, which usually only wins above sustained high utilisation — below that, hosted inference is cheaper.
Should I switch from OpenAI to DeepSeek to save money?
Only if the cheaper model still meets your quality bar. Token price is one input; the ones that decide your bill are prompt size, response length, retries and how much conversation history you resend each turn. Model the switch against your real traffic before committing. Prices here are current as of October 12, 2026.
Related comparisons
Run the numbers for your workload.
Calcaas multiplies per-token costs by your real usage patterns — inputs, outputs, retries, and conversation history — across both providers in one model.