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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

DeepSeek R1 0528 vs GPT-4.1

Too close to call on our weighted score (DeepSeek R1 0528 53, GPT-4.1 52). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  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. OpenAI

    GPT-4.1

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    52/100
    • ECI136.7
    • Price$2.00 / $8.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (DeepSeek R1 0528 53/100, GPT-4.1 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek R1 0528 for raw capability and GPT-4.1 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek R1 0528Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 · GPT-4.1 136.7
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeek R1 0528 $0.932 · GPT-4.1 $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1GPT-4.1 1,047,576 · DeepSeek R1 0528 163,840 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1DeepSeek R1 0528: Text · GPT-4.1: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek R1 0528Publishes downloadable weights (MIT)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek R1 0528GPT-4.1
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6660
Price25%4923
Inputs & features15%3570
Context window10%2861
Overall100%53/10052/100
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 GPT-4.1 specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeekGPT-4.1OpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)141.2 (best)136.7
ECI rank#108 of 165 (best)#125 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions76.3% (best)66.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.0%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics66.4% (best)38.3%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues—48.5%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—31.1%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.512 (best)$2.00
Output$2.19 (best)$8.00
Cached input—$0.50
Blended (3:1)$0.932 (best)$3.50
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 16 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)
Max output32,768 tokens32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenMITProprietary
API model ID—gpt-4.1
API providers1631 (best)
ReleasedMay 28, 2025Apr 14, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 2024
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
  • GPT-4.1$36.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek R1 0528 or GPT-4.1?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (DeepSeek R1 0528 53/100, GPT-4.1 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek R1 0528 for raw capability and GPT-4.1 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 0528 or GPT-4.1?

DeepSeek R1 0528 is cheaper at $0.512 input / $2.19 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). GPT-4.1 costs $2.00 input / $8.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.932 per million tokens for DeepSeek R1 0528 versus $3.50 for GPT-4.1 (3.8× 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) and GPT-4.1 136.7 (#125 of 165). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (139.0–142.9 vs 134.0–138.5), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek R1 0528 76.3%, GPT-4.1 66.9%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek R1 0528 66.4%, GPT-4.1 38.3%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek R1 0528 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

GPT-4.1 has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek R1 0528. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek R1 0528 up to 32,768, GPT-4.1 up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek R1 0528 accepts text; GPT-4.1 accepts text, images and PDFs. GPT-4.1 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek R1 0528 publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek R1 0528 is the newest, released May 28, 2025. GPT-4.1 came out Apr 14, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 Apr 2024.

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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