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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash

Gemini 2.5 Flash comes out ahead, 66 to 53 and 52 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek V3 0324 is 43% cheaper per token.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek R1 0528

    Released May 28, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI141.2
    • Price$0.512 / $2.19
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek R1 0528

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

    52/100
    • ECI135.9
    • Price$0.275 / $1.12
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V3 0324
  3. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    66/100
    • ECI140.6
    • Price$0.30 / $2.50
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash
01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53) and DeepSeek V3 0324 (52). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek R1 0528Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 · Gemini 2.5 Flash 140.6 · DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.486 · Gemini 2.5 Flash $0.85 · DeepSeek R1 0528 $0.932 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 2.5 Flash 1,048,576 · DeepSeek R1 0528 163,840 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 FlashDeepSeek R1 0528: Text · DeepSeek V3 0324: Text · Gemini 2.5 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek R1 0528 and DeepSeek V3 0324Publishes downloadable weights (MIT)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeek V3 0324Gemini 2.5 Flash
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%665965
Price25%496251
Inputs & features15%3525100
Context window10%282861
Overall100%53/10052/10066/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeekDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeekGemini 2.5 FlashGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)141.2 (best)135.9140.6
ECI rank#108 of 165 (best)#128 of 165#110 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions76.3% (best)67.6%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics66.4% (best)37.8%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.512$0.275 (best)$0.30
Output$2.19$1.12 (best)$2.50
Cached input——$0.03
Blended (3:1)$0.932$0.486 (best)$0.85
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 16 providersMedian of 13 providersOfficial Google API
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens163,840 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output32,768 tokens163,840 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoYes
PDFsNoNoYes
AudioNoNoYes
VideoNoNoYes
ReasoningYesNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenMITOpenProprietary
API model ID——gemini-2.5-flash
API providers161332 (best)
ReleasedMay 28, 2025Mar 24, 2025Jun 17, 2025
Knowledge cutoff——Jan 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • DeepSeek R1 0528$9.50
  • DeepSeek V3 0324$4.99
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek R1 0528, DeepSeek V3 0324 or Gemini 2.5 Flash?

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53) and DeepSeek V3 0324 (52). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 0528, DeepSeek V3 0324 or Gemini 2.5 Flash?

DeepSeek V3 0324 is cheaper at $0.275 input / $1.12 output per million tokens (median across 13 API providers). Gemini 2.5 Flash costs $0.30 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Google API price); DeepSeek R1 0528 costs $0.512 input / $2.19 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.486 per million tokens for DeepSeek V3 0324 versus $0.85 for Gemini 2.5 Flash (1.7× as much) and $0.932 for DeepSeek R1 0528 (1.9× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 0528 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 (#108 of 165), Gemini 2.5 Flash 140.6 (#110 of 165) and DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#128 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (139.0–142.9 vs 138.4–142.1), so treat the gap as small.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek R1 0528, DeepSeek V3 0324 and Gemini 2.5 Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek R1 0528 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Flash has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek R1 0528 and 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek R1 0528 up to 32,768, DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, Gemini 2.5 Flash up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek R1 0528 accepts text; DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; Gemini 2.5 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek R1 0528 and DeepSeek V3 0324 publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the newest, released Jun 17, 2025. DeepSeek R1 0528 came out May 28, 2025; DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash Jan 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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