DeepSeek-R1 vs solar-mini vs Qwen3 235B-A22B
solar-mini comes out ahead, 52 to 39 and 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
DeepSeekDeepSeek-R1
39/100- ECI139.0
- Price$0.70 / $2.60
- Context128K
- Our pick
Upstage
solar-mini
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 235B-A22B
38/100- ECI139.4
- Price$0.70 / $2.80
- Context131K
solar-mini is our pick
solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (39) and Qwen3 235B-A22B (38). It leads on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest pricesolar-minisolar-mini $0.15 · DeepSeek-R1 $1.18 · Qwen3 235B-A22B $1.23 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 235B-A22BQwen3 235B-A22B 131,072 · DeepSeek-R1 128,000 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsDeepSeek-R1: Text · solar-mini: Text · Qwen3 235B-A22B: Text
- Self-hostingDeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3 235B-A22BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | DeepSeek-R1 | solar-mini | Qwen3 235B-A22B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 47 | 89 | 46 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 39/100 | 52/100 | 38/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | DeepSeek-R1DeepSeek | solar-miniUpstage | Qwen3 235B-A22BAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 139.0 | — | 139.4 (best) |
| ECI rank | #104 of 148 | — | #103 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 71.7% (best) | — | 70.7% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 53.3% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.70 | $0.15 (best) | $0.70 |
| Output | $2.60 | $0.15 (best) | $2.80 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.18 | $0.15 (best) | $1.23 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 11 providers | Official Upstage API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | solar-mini | qwen3-235b-a22b |
| API providers | 12 (best) | 1 | 7 |
| Released | Jan 20, 2025 | Jun 12, 2024 | Apr 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jul 2024 | Sep 2024 | Apr 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
- solar-mini$1.80
- Qwen3 235B-A22B$12.60
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DeepSeek-R1, solar-mini or Qwen3 235B-A22B?
solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (39) and Qwen3 235B-A22B (38). It leads on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-R1, solar-mini or Qwen3 235B-A22B?
solar-mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). DeepSeek-R1 costs $0.70 input / $2.60 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers); Qwen3 235B-A22B costs $0.70 input / $2.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for solar-mini versus $1.18 for DeepSeek-R1 (7.8× as much) and $1.23 for Qwen3 235B-A22B (8.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. DeepSeek-R1 has an ECI of 139.0, solar-mini has not been scored yet and Qwen3 235B-A22B has an ECI of 139.4.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-R1, solar-mini and Qwen3 235B-A22B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3 235B-A22B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for DeepSeek-R1 and 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-R1 up to 32,768, solar-mini up to 4,096, Qwen3 235B-A22B up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DeepSeek-R1 accepts text; solar-mini accepts text; Qwen3 235B-A22B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3 235B-A22B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; solar-mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 235B-A22B is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. DeepSeek-R1 came out Jan 20, 2025; solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek-R1 Jul 2024, solar-mini Sep 2024, Qwen3 235B-A22B 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.
