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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-V3 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ Plus

GPT-4.1 mini comes out ahead, 64 to 52 and 50 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek-V3 is 26% cheaper per token.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3

    Released Dec 26, 2024

    50/100
    • ECI132.3
    • Price$0.32 / $1.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-V3
  2. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-4.1 mini

    Released Apr 14, 2025

    64/100
    • ECI135.0
    • Price$0.40 / $1.60
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-4.1 mini

  3. Alibaba (Qwen)

    QwQ Plus

    Released Mar 5, 2025

    52/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.80 / $2.40
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove QwQ Plus
01 — Verdict

GPT-4.1 mini is our pick

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against QwQ Plus (52) and DeepSeek-V3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-V3 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because QwQ Plus has no Capabilities Index score yet.

  • CapabilityGPT-4.1 miniShared benchmarks: GPT-4.1 mini 65.9% · QwQ Plus 65.4% · DeepSeek-V3 56.5%
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek-V3DeepSeek-V3 $0.515 · GPT-4.1 mini $0.70 · QwQ Plus $1.20 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-4.1 miniGPT-4.1 mini 1,047,576 · DeepSeek-V3 131,072 · QwQ Plus 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-4.1 miniDeepSeek-V3: Text · GPT-4.1 mini: Text, Images, PDFs · QwQ Plus: Text
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek-V3Publishes downloadable weights (DeepSeek Model License)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek-V3GPT-4.1 miniQwQ Plus
CapabilityShared benchmarks50%576665
Price25%645746
Inputs & features15%257035
Context window10%246124
Overall100%50/10064/10052/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-V3 vs GPT-4.1 mini vs QwQ Plus specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-V3DeepSeekGPT-4.1 miniOpenAIQwQ PlusAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)132.3135.0 (best)—
ECI rank#121 of 148#115 of 148 (best)—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.5%65.9% (best)65.4%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—6.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics15.8%44.7% (best)—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—12.7%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.32 (best)$0.40$0.80
Output$1.10 (best)$1.60$2.40
Cached input—$0.10—
Blended (3:1)$0.515 (best)$0.70$1.20
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens1,047,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output8,192 tokens32,768 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoYesNo
PDFsNoYesNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoNoYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenDeepSeek Model LicenseProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—gpt-4.1-miniqwq-plus
API providers524 (best)2
ReleasedDec 26, 2024Apr 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$5.40
  • GPT-4.1 mini$7.20
  • QwQ Plus$12.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4.1 mini or QwQ Plus?

GPT-4.1 mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against QwQ Plus (52) and DeepSeek-V3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-V3 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%. Capability uses the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond), because QwQ Plus has no Capabilities Index score yet.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4.1 mini or QwQ Plus?

DeepSeek-V3 is cheaper at $0.32 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). GPT-4.1 mini costs $0.40 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price); QwQ Plus costs $0.80 input / $2.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.515 per million tokens for DeepSeek-V3 versus $0.70 for GPT-4.1 mini (1.4× as much) and $1.20 for QwQ Plus (2.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Not every model here has a Capabilities Index score, so we compare the average of shared benchmarks (GPQA Diamond): GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, QwQ Plus 65.4% and DeepSeek-V3 56.5%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-4.1 mini 65.9%, QwQ Plus 65.4%, DeepSeek-V3 56.5%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4.1 mini and QwQ Plus yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-4.1 mini 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 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3 and 131,072 for QwQ Plus. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3 up to 8,192, GPT-4.1 mini up to 32,768, QwQ Plus up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

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

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek-V3 publishes its weights (DeepSeek Model License) and can be self-hosted; GPT-4.1 mini and QwQ Plus is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-4.1 mini is the newest, released Apr 14, 2025. QwQ Plus came out Mar 5, 2025; DeepSeek-V3 came out Dec 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-4.1 mini Apr 2024, QwQ Plus 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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