DeepSeek-R1 vs GPT-5.4 mini vs Grok 4.3
Grok 4.3 comes out ahead, 67 to 63 and 51 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek-R1 is 25% cheaper per token.
DeepSeekDeepSeek-R1
51/100- ECI139.0
- Price$0.70 / $2.60
- Context128K
OpenAIGPT-5.4 mini
63/100- ECI148.8
- Price$0.75 / $4.50
- Context400K
- Our pick
xAIGrok 4.3
67/100- ECI149.2
- Price$1.25 / $2.50
- Context1M
Grok 4.3 is our pick
Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-5.4 mini (63) and DeepSeek-R1 (51). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-R1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGrok 4.3Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.3 149.2 · GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 · DeepSeek-R1 139.0
- Lowest priceDeepSeek-R1DeepSeek-R1 $1.18 · Grok 4.3 $1.56 · GPT-5.4 mini $1.69 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok 4.3Grok 4.3 1,000,000 · GPT-5.4 mini 400,000 · DeepSeek-R1 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGrok 4.3DeepSeek-R1: Text · GPT-5.4 mini: Text, Images · Grok 4.3: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingDeepSeek-R1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | DeepSeek-R1 | GPT-5.4 mini | Grok 4.3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 64 | 77 | 77 |
| Price | 25% | 47 | 39 | 41 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 35 | 70 | 80 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 44 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 51/100 | 63/100 | 67/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | DeepSeek-R1DeepSeek | GPT-5.4 miniOpenAI | Grok 4.3xAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 139.0 | 148.8 | 149.2 (best) |
| ECI rank | #104 of 148 | #56 of 148 | #55 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 71.7% | 86.9% | 88.8% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 51.2% (best) | 42.8% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 53.3% | 88.9% | 93.3% (best) |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 29.4% | 33.2% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.70 (best) | $0.75 | $1.25 |
| Output | $2.60 | $4.50 | $2.50 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.075 (best) | $0.20 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.18 (best) | $1.69 | $1.56 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Over 200K: $2.50 / $5.00 |
| Price source | Median of 11 providers | Official OpenAI API | Official xAI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 400,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) | 30,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | gpt-5.4-mini | grok-4.3 |
| API providers | 12 | 29 (best) | 27 |
| Released | Jan 20, 2025 | Mar 17, 2026 | Apr 17, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jul 2024 | Aug 31, 2025 | — |
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
- GPT-5.4 mini$16.50
- Grok 4.3$17.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DeepSeek-R1, GPT-5.4 mini or Grok 4.3?
Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-5.4 mini (63) and DeepSeek-R1 (51). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-R1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-R1, GPT-5.4 mini or Grok 4.3?
DeepSeek-R1 is cheaper at $0.70 input / $2.60 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). Grok 4.3 costs $1.25 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official xAI API price); GPT-5.4 mini costs $0.75 input / $4.50 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.18 per million tokens for DeepSeek-R1 versus $1.56 for Grok 4.3 (1.3× as much) and $1.69 for GPT-5.4 mini (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Grok 4.3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.3 149.2 (#55 of 148), GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 (#56 of 148) and DeepSeek-R1 139.0 (#104 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (147.6–150.8 vs 147.1–150.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Grok 4.3 88.8%, GPT-5.4 mini 86.9%, DeepSeek-R1 71.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Grok 4.3 93.3%, GPT-5.4 mini 88.9%, DeepSeek-R1 53.3%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-R1, GPT-5.4 mini and Grok 4.3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Grok 4.3 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?
Grok 4.3 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.4 mini and 128,000 for DeepSeek-R1. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-R1 up to 32,768, GPT-5.4 mini up to 128,000, Grok 4.3 up to 30,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DeepSeek-R1 accepts text; GPT-5.4 mini accepts text and images; Grok 4.3 accepts text, images and PDFs. Grok 4.3 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek-R1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 mini and Grok 4.3 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Grok 4.3 is the newest, released Apr 17, 2026. GPT-5.4 mini came out Mar 17, 2026; DeepSeek-R1 came out Jan 20, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek-R1 Jul 2024, GPT-5.4 mini Aug 31, 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.
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