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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-V3 vs Qwen3 8B

Qwen3 8B comes out ahead, 56 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  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

    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

Qwen3 8B is our pick

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

  • CapabilityQwen3 8BCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 8B 136.2 · DeepSeek-V3 132.3
  • Lowest priceQwen3 8BQwen3 8B $0.31 · DeepSeek-V3 $0.515 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameDeepSeek-V3 131,072 · Qwen3 8B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsDeepSeek-V3: 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-V3Qwen3 8B
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5661
Price25%6474
Inputs & features15%2535
Context window10%2424
Overall100%50/10056/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-V3 vs Qwen3 8B specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-V3DeepSeekQwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)132.3136.2 (best)
ECI rank#121 of 148#113 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.5%56.8% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics15.8%56.1% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.32$0.18 (best)
Output$1.10$0.70 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.515$0.31 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Max output8,192 tokens8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenDeepSeek Model LicenseOpen
API model ID—qwen3-8b
API providers5 (best)1
ReleasedDec 26, 2024Apr 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 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$5.40
  • Qwen3 8B$3.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek-V3 or Qwen3 8B?

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

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3 or Qwen3 8B?

Qwen3 8B is cheaper at $0.18 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). DeepSeek-V3 costs $0.32 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (median across 5 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 $0.515 for DeepSeek-V3 (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3 8B scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3 8B 136.2 (#113 of 148) and DeepSeek-V3 132.3 (#121 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (129.7–138.1 vs 127.5–135.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3 8B 56.8%, DeepSeek-V3 56.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3 8B 56.1%, DeepSeek-V3 15.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3 and Qwen3 8B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3 8B 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?

DeepSeek-V3 and Qwen3 8B share the same 131,072-token context window. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3 up to 8,192, Qwen3 8B up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek-V3 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 (DeepSeek Model License), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 8B is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. DeepSeek-V3 came out Dec 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: 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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