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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ 32B

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 59 to 53 and 52 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek V3 0324 is 31% cheaper per token.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

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

    OpenAI

    GPT-4.1 mini

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    59/100
    • ECI134.9
    • Price$0.40 / $1.60
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1 mini

  3. Alibaba (Qwen)

    QwQ 32B

    Released Mar 5, 2025

    53/100
    • ECI137.5
    • Price$0.53 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove QwQ 32B
01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against QwQ 32B (53) and DeepSeek V3 0324 (52). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on price. QwQ 32B wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwQ 32BCapabilities Index (ECI): QwQ 32B 137.5 · DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 · GPT-4.1 mini 134.9
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.486 · QwQ 32B $0.573 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 · QwQ 32B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniDeepSeek V3 0324: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · QwQ 32B: Text
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek V3 0324 and QwQ 32BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek V3 0324GPT-4.1 miniQwQ 32B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%595861
Price25%625559
Inputs & features15%257035
Context window10%286125
Overall100%52/10059/10053/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ 32B specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeekGPT-4.1 miniOpenAIQwQ 32BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)135.9134.9137.5 (best)
ECI rank#128 of 165#129 of 165#123 of 165 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions67.6% (best)65.9%65.3%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics37.8%44.7%59.2% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.275 (best)$0.40$0.53
Output$1.12$1.60$0.70 (best)
Cached input—$0.10—
Blended (3:1)$0.486 (best)$0.70$0.573
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 13 providersOfficial OpenAI APIMedian of 2 providers
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output163,840 tokens (best)32,768 tokens8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoYesNo
PDFsNoYesNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietaryOpen
API model ID—gpt-4.1-mini—
API providers1328 (best)2
ReleasedMar 24, 2025Apr 14, 2025Mar 5, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 2024Apr 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 V3 0324$4.99
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
  • QwQ 32B$6.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek V3 0324, GPT-4.1 mini or QwQ 32B?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 59/100 against QwQ 32B (53) and DeepSeek V3 0324 (52). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on price. QwQ 32B wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3 0324, GPT-4.1 mini or QwQ 32B?

DeepSeek V3 0324 is cheaper at $0.275 input / $1.12 output per million tokens (median across 13 API providers). QwQ 32B costs $0.53 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers); GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.486 per million tokens for DeepSeek V3 0324 versus $0.573 for QwQ 32B (1.2× as much) and $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (1.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

QwQ 32B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): QwQ 32B 137.5 (#123 of 165), DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#128 of 165) and GPT-4.1 mini 134.9 (#129 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (133.1–141.3 vs 132.5–137.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek V3 0324 67.6%, GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, QwQ 32B 65.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — QwQ 32B 59.2%, GPT-4.1 mini 44.7%, DeepSeek V3 0324 37.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V3 0324, GPT-4.1 mini and QwQ 32B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, QwQ 32B 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?

GPT-4.1 mini has the largest context window at 1,047,576 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324 and 131,072 for QwQ 32B. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, QwQ 32B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; GPT-4.1 mini accepts text, images and PDFs; QwQ 32B accepts text. GPT-4.1 mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek V3 0324 and QwQ 32B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-4.1 mini is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025; QwQ 32B came out Mar 5, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, QwQ 32B 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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