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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek-V3 vs Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2

DeepSeek-V3 comes out ahead, 50 to 44 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-V3

    Released Dec 26, 2024

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

  2. Anthropic

    Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2

    Released Oct 22, 2024

    44/100
    • ECI133.5
    • Price$3.00 / $15.00
    • Context200K
    Full specs Remove Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

DeepSeek-V3 is our pick

DeepSeek-V3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 (44). It leads on price. Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 wins on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityClaude Sonnet 3.5 v2Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 133.5 · DeepSeek-V3 132.3
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek-V3DeepSeek-V3 $0.515 · Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextClaude Sonnet 3.5 v2Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 200,000 · DeepSeek-V3 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsClaude Sonnet 3.5 v2DeepSeek-V3: Text · Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek-V3Publishes downloadable weights (DeepSeek Model License)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek-V3Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%5657
Price25%6413
Inputs & features15%2560
Context window10%2432
Overall100%50/10044/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek-V3 vs Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek-V3DeepSeekClaude Sonnet 3.5 v2Anthropic
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)132.3133.5 (best)
ECI rank#121 of 148#119 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.5% (best)55.3%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics15.8% (best)8.5%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.32 (best)$3.00
Output$1.10 (best)$15.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.515 (best)$6.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersMedian of 1 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens200,000 tokens (best)
Max output8,192 tokens8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenDeepSeek Model LicenseProprietary
API model ID——
API providers5 (best)1
ReleasedDec 26, 2024Oct 22, 2024
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 30, 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
  • Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2$60.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek-V3 or Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2?

DeepSeek-V3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 (44). It leads on price. Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 wins on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3 or Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2?

DeepSeek-V3 is cheaper at $0.32 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 costs $3.00 input / $15.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.515 per million tokens for DeepSeek-V3 versus $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 (12× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 133.5 (#119 of 148) and DeepSeek-V3 132.3 (#121 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (129.2–137.5 vs 127.5–135.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek-V3 56.5%, Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 55.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek-V3 15.8%, Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 8.5%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek-V3 and Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 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?

Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 has the largest context window at 200,000 tokens, against 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek-V3 up to 8,192, Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek-V3 accepts text; Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 accepts text, images and PDFs. Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 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; Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek-V3 is the newest, released Dec 26, 2024. Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 came out Oct 22, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Sonnet 3.5 v2 Apr 30, 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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