ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-V3.1 vs GPT-5 Mini

GPT-5 Mini comes out ahead, 65 to 55 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek-V3.1 is 13% cheaper per token.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3.1

    Released Aug 21, 2025

    55/100
    • ECI139.9
    • Price$0.385 / $1.25
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-V3.1
  2. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-5 Mini

    Released Aug 7, 2025

    65/100
    • ECI145.5
    • Price$0.25 / $2.00
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5 Mini

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GPT-5 Mini is our pick

GPT-5 Mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against DeepSeek-V3.1 (55). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-V3.1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-5 MiniCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 Mini 145.5 · DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek-V3.1DeepSeek-V3.1 $0.601 · GPT-5 Mini $0.688 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5 MiniGPT-5 Mini 400,000 · DeepSeek-V3.1 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5 MiniDeepSeek-V3.1: Text · GPT-5 Mini: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek-V3.1Publishes downloadable weights (MIT License)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek-V3.1GPT-5 Mini
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6572
Price25%6058
Inputs & features15%3570
Context window10%2444
Overall100%55/10065/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-V3.1 vs GPT-5 Mini specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-V3.1DeepSeekGPT-5 MiniOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)139.9145.5 (best)
ECI rank#100 of 148#77 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—75.0%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—46.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—86.7%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues—64.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—21.6%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.385$0.25 (best)
Output$1.25 (best)$2.00
Cached input—$0.025
Blended (3:1)$0.601 (best)$0.688
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 8 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens400,000 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYesminimal · low · medium · high
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenMIT LicenseProprietary
API model ID—gpt-5-mini
API providers823 (best)
ReleasedAug 21, 2025Aug 7, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—May 30, 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-V3.1$6.35
  • GPT-5 Mini$6.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek-V3.1 or GPT-5 Mini?

GPT-5 Mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against DeepSeek-V3.1 (55). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-V3.1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3.1 or GPT-5 Mini?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is cheaper at $0.385 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (median across 8 API providers). GPT-5 Mini costs $0.25 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.601 per million tokens for DeepSeek-V3.1 versus $0.688 for GPT-5 Mini (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-5 Mini scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 Mini 145.5 (#77 of 148) and DeepSeek-V3.1 139.9 (#100 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (143.6–147.0 vs 136.1–143.3), so the gap is a real one.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3.1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5 Mini 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-5 Mini has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3.1. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3.1 up to 8,192, GPT-5 Mini up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek-V3.1 accepts text; GPT-5 Mini accepts text and images. GPT-5 Mini handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek-V3.1 publishes its weights (MIT License) and can be self-hosted; GPT-5 Mini is proprietary.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is the newest, released Aug 21, 2025. GPT-5 Mini came out Aug 7, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Mini May 30, 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

Related comparisons