DeepSeek-V3 vs QwQ Plus vs Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct comes out ahead, 63 to 52 and 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
DeepSeekDeepSeek-V3
50/100- ECI132.3
- Price$0.32 / $1.10
- Context131K
Alibaba (Qwen)QwQ Plus
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.80 / $2.40
- Context131K
- Our pick
MetaLlama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct
63/100- ECI132.2
- Price$0.321 / $0.91
- Context1M
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is our pick
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against QwQ Plus (52) and DeepSeek-V3 (50). It leads on capability, price, inputs & features and context window. 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.
- CapabilityLlama 4 Maverick 17B InstructShared benchmarks: Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 67.0% · QwQ Plus 65.4% · DeepSeek-V3 56.5%
- Lowest priceLlama 4 Maverick 17B InstructLlama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct $0.468 · DeepSeek-V3 $0.515 · QwQ Plus $1.20 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLlama 4 Maverick 17B InstructLlama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 1,000,000 · DeepSeek-V3 131,072 · QwQ Plus 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsLlama 4 Maverick 17B InstructDeepSeek-V3: Text · QwQ Plus: Text · Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct: Text, Images
- Self-hostingDeepSeek-V3 and Llama 4 Maverick 17B InstructPublishes downloadable weights (DeepSeek Model License)
| Measure | Weight | DeepSeek-V3 | QwQ Plus | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityShared benchmarks | 50% | 57 | 65 | 67 |
| Price | 25% | 64 | 46 | 66 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 25 | 35 | 50 |
| Context window | 10% | 24 | 24 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 52/100 | 63/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | DeepSeek-V3DeepSeek | QwQ PlusAlibaba (Qwen) | Llama 4 Maverick 17B InstructMeta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 132.3 (best) | — | 132.2 |
| ECI rank | #121 of 148 (best) | — | #122 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 56.5% | 65.4% | 67.0% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 15.8% | — | 20.6% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.32 (best) | $0.80 | $0.321 |
| Output | $1.10 | $2.40 | $0.91 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.515 | $1.20 | $0.468 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Official Alibaba API | Median of 6 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenDeepSeek Model License | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | qwq-plus | — |
| API providers | 5 | 2 | 6 (best) |
| Released | Dec 26, 2024 | Mar 5, 2025 | Apr 5, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Apr 2024 | 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$5.40
- QwQ Plus$12.80
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct$5.03
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DeepSeek-V3, QwQ Plus or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against QwQ Plus (52) and DeepSeek-V3 (50). It leads on capability, price, inputs & features and context window. 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, QwQ Plus or Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is cheaper at $0.321 input / $0.91 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). DeepSeek-V3 costs $0.32 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers); 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 $0.468 per million tokens for Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct versus $0.515 for DeepSeek-V3 (1.1× as much) and $1.20 for QwQ Plus (2.6× 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): Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 67.0%, QwQ Plus 65.4% and DeepSeek-V3 56.5%. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 67.0%, QwQ Plus 65.4%, DeepSeek-V3 56.5%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3, QwQ Plus and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 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?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3 and 131,072 for QwQ Plus. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3 up to 8,192, QwQ Plus up to 8,192, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DeepSeek-V3 accepts text; QwQ Plus accepts text; Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct accepts text and images. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek-V3 and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct publishes its weights (DeepSeek Model License) and can be self-hosted; QwQ Plus is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 5, 2025. QwQ Plus came out Mar 5, 2025; DeepSeek-V3 came out Dec 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: QwQ Plus Apr 2024, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 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.
