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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-R1 vs DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Qwen3 8B

Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3 8B 56, DeepSeek V3 0324 54, DeepSeek-R1 51). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-R1

    Released Jan 20, 2025

    51/100
    • ECI139.0
    • Price$0.70 / $2.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-R1

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI135.9
    • Price$0.24 / $0.90
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V3 0324

  3. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 8B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI136.2
    • Price$0.18 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 8B
01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Qwen3 8B 56/100, DeepSeek V3 0324 54/100, DeepSeek-R1 51/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek-R1 for raw capability, Qwen3 8B on price and DeepSeek V3 0324 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek-R1Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-R1 139.0 · Qwen3 8B 136.2 · DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9
  • Lowest priceQwen3 8BQwen3 8B $0.31 · DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.405 · DeepSeek-R1 $1.18 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 · Qwen3 8B 131,072 · DeepSeek-R1 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsDeepSeek-R1: Text · DeepSeek V3 0324: Text · Qwen3 8B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek-R1DeepSeek V3 0324Qwen3 8B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%646061
Price25%476874
Inputs & features15%352535
Context window10%242824
Overall100%51/10054/10056/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-R1 vs DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Qwen3 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-R1DeepSeekDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeekQwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)139.0 (best)135.9136.2
ECI rank#104 of 148 (best)#114 of 148#113 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions71.7% (best)67.6%56.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics53.3%37.8%56.1% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.70$0.24$0.18 (best)
Output$2.60$0.90$0.70 (best)
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$1.18$0.405$0.31 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 11 providersMedian of 5 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens163,840 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output32,768 tokens163,840 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYesNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenOpen
API model ID——qwen3-8b
API providers12 (best)51
ReleasedJan 20, 2025Mar 24, 2025Apr 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJul 2024—Apr 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$12.20
  • DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
  • Qwen3 8B$3.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek-R1, DeepSeek V3 0324 or Qwen3 8B?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Qwen3 8B 56/100, DeepSeek V3 0324 54/100, DeepSeek-R1 51/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek-R1 for raw capability, Qwen3 8B on price and DeepSeek V3 0324 for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-R1, DeepSeek V3 0324 or Qwen3 8B?

Qwen3 8B is cheaper at $0.18 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). DeepSeek V3 0324 costs $0.24 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); DeepSeek-R1 costs $0.70 input / $2.60 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.31 per million tokens for Qwen3 8B versus $0.405 for DeepSeek V3 0324 (1.3× as much) and $1.18 for DeepSeek-R1 (3.8× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek-R1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-R1 139.0 (#104 of 148), Qwen3 8B 136.2 (#113 of 148) and DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#114 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (136.2–140.4 vs 129.7–138.1), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek-R1 71.7%, DeepSeek V3 0324 67.6%, Qwen3 8B 56.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3 8B 56.1%, DeepSeek-R1 53.3%, DeepSeek V3 0324 37.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-R1, DeepSeek V3 0324 and Qwen3 8B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek-R1 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?

DeepSeek V3 0324 has the largest context window at 163,840 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3 8B and 128,000 for DeepSeek-R1. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-R1 up to 32,768, DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, Qwen3 8B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek-R1 accepts text; DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; Qwen3 8B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, all three publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 8B is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025; DeepSeek-R1 came out Jan 20, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek-R1 Jul 2024, Qwen3 8B Apr 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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