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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek V3.2 vs Qwen3 8B

DeepSeek V3.2 comes out ahead, 64 to 56 on our weighted score, though Qwen3 8B is 9% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3.2

    Released Dec 1, 2025

    64/100
    • ECI146.3
    • Price$0.296 / $0.48
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V3.2

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 8B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI136.2
    • Price$0.18 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 8B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

DeepSeek V3.2 is our pick

DeepSeek V3.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Qwen3 8B (56). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Qwen3 8B 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 · Qwen3 8B 136.2
  • Lowest priceQwen3 8BQwen3 8B $0.31 · DeepSeek V3.2 $0.342 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 8BQwen3 8B 131,072 · DeepSeek V3.2 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsDeepSeek V3.2: Text · Qwen3 8B: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek V3.2Qwen3 8B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7361
Price25%7274
Inputs & features15%4535
Context window10%2424
Overall100%64/10056/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek V3.2 vs Qwen3 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek V3.2DeepSeekQwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)146.3 (best)136.2
ECI rank#69 of 148 (best)#113 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions83.4% (best)56.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics87.8% (best)56.1%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.296$0.18 (best)
Output$0.48 (best)$0.70
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.342$0.31 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 15 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Max output64,000 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenMIT LicenseOpen
API model ID—qwen3-8b
API providers15 (best)1
ReleasedDec 1, 2025Apr 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJul 2024Apr 2025
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 V3.2$3.92
  • Qwen3 8B$3.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek V3.2 or Qwen3 8B?

DeepSeek V3.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against Qwen3 8B (56). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Qwen3 8B wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3.2 or Qwen3 8B?

Qwen3 8B is cheaper at $0.18 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). DeepSeek V3.2 costs $0.296 input / $0.48 output per million tokens (median across 15 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.31 per million tokens for Qwen3 8B versus $0.342 for DeepSeek V3.2 (1.1× 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) and Qwen3 8B 136.2 (#113 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (144.4–147.5 vs 129.7–138.1), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek V3.2 83.4%, Qwen3 8B 56.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek V3.2 87.8%, Qwen3 8B 56.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V3.2 and Qwen3 8B 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 8B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for DeepSeek V3.2. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V3.2 up to 64,000, Qwen3 8B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek V3.2 accepts text; Qwen3 8B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (MIT License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek V3.2 is the newest, released Dec 1, 2025. Qwen3 8B came out Apr 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek V3.2 Jul 2024, Qwen3 8B 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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