DeepSeek V3.2 vs GPT-5.4 nano vs Kimi K2 Thinking
GPT-5.4 nano comes out ahead, 68 to 64 and 58 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek V3.2 is 26% cheaper per token.
DeepSeekDeepSeek V3.2
64/100- ECI146.3
- Price$0.296 / $0.48
- Context128K
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-5.4 nano
68/100- ECI145.8
- Price$0.20 / $1.25
- Context400K
Moonshot AIKimi K2 Thinking
58/100- ECI146.0
- Price$0.60 / $2.50
- Context262K
GPT-5.4 nano is our pick
GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against DeepSeek V3.2 (64) and Kimi K2 Thinking (58). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3.2 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityDeepSeek V3.2Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3.2 146.3 · Kimi K2 Thinking 146.0 · GPT-5.4 nano 145.8
- Lowest priceDeepSeek V3.2DeepSeek V3.2 $0.342 · GPT-5.4 nano $0.463 · Kimi K2 Thinking $1.07 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano 400,000 · Kimi K2 Thinking 262,144 · DeepSeek V3.2 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-5.4 nanoDeepSeek V3.2: Text · GPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images · Kimi K2 Thinking: Text
- Self-hostingDeepSeek V3.2 and Kimi K2 ThinkingPublishes downloadable weights (MIT License)
| Measure | Weight | DeepSeek V3.2 | GPT-5.4 nano | Kimi K2 Thinking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 73 | 73 | 73 |
| Price | 25% | 72 | 66 | 48 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 45 | 70 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 44 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 64/100 | 68/100 | 58/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | DeepSeek V3.2DeepSeek | GPT-5.4 nanoOpenAI | Kimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 146.3 (best) | 145.8 | 146.0 |
| ECI rank | #69 of 148 (best) | #75 of 148 | #72 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 83.4% | 78.5% | 84.2% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 44.9% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 87.8% (best) | 87.8% | 83.1% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 11.7% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.296 | $0.20 (best) | $0.60 |
| Output | $0.48 (best) | $1.25 | $2.50 |
| Cached input | — | $0.02 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.342 (best) | $0.463 | $1.07 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 15 providers | Official OpenAI API | Median of 10 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 400,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenMIT License | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | gpt-5.4-nano | — |
| API providers | 15 | 26 (best) | 10 |
| Released | Dec 1, 2025 | Mar 17, 2026 | Nov 6, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jul 2024 | Aug 31, 2025 | Aug 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- DeepSeek V3.2$3.92
- GPT-5.4 nano$4.50
- Kimi K2 Thinking$11.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DeepSeek V3.2, GPT-5.4 nano or Kimi K2 Thinking?
GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against DeepSeek V3.2 (64) and Kimi K2 Thinking (58). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3.2 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3.2, GPT-5.4 nano or Kimi K2 Thinking?
DeepSeek V3.2 is cheaper at $0.296 input / $0.48 output per million tokens (median across 15 API providers). GPT-5.4 nano costs $0.20 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.60 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (median across 10 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.342 per million tokens for DeepSeek V3.2 versus $0.463 for GPT-5.4 nano (1.4× as much) and $1.07 for Kimi K2 Thinking (3.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
DeepSeek V3.2 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3.2 146.3 (#69 of 148), Kimi K2 Thinking 146.0 (#72 of 148) and GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 (#75 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (144.4–147.5 vs 143.4–147.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Kimi K2 Thinking 84.2%, DeepSeek V3.2 83.4%, GPT-5.4 nano 78.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek V3.2 87.8%, GPT-5.4 nano 87.8%, Kimi K2 Thinking 83.1%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V3.2, GPT-5.4 nano and Kimi K2 Thinking yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V3.2 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-5.4 nano has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Kimi K2 Thinking and 128,000 for DeepSeek V3.2. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V3.2 up to 64,000, GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000, Kimi K2 Thinking up to 262,144 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DeepSeek V3.2 accepts text; GPT-5.4 nano accepts text and images; Kimi K2 Thinking accepts text. GPT-5.4 nano handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek V3.2 and Kimi K2 Thinking publishes its weights (MIT License) and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 nano is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-5.4 nano is the newest, released Mar 17, 2026. DeepSeek V3.2 came out Dec 1, 2025; Kimi K2 Thinking came out Nov 6, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek V3.2 Jul 2024, GPT-5.4 nano Aug 31, 2025, Kimi K2 Thinking Aug 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.
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