ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Claude Sonnet 5.5

Claude Sonnet 5.5 comes out ahead, 46 to 39 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek V4 Pro is 2× cheaper per token.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V4 Pro

    Released Apr 24, 2026

    39/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.60 / $3.30
    • Context1M
  2. Our pick

    Anthropic

    Claude Sonnet 5.5

    Released Sep 28, 2026New

    46/100
    • ECI166.7
    • Price$2.00 / $10.00
    • Context1M
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Claude Sonnet 5.5 is our pick

Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 46/100 against DeepSeek V4 Pro (39). It leads on inputs & features. DeepSeek V4 Pro wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek V4 ProDeepSeek V4 Pro $2.03 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameDeepSeek V4 Pro 1,000,000 · Claude Sonnet 5.5 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsClaude Sonnet 5.5DeepSeek V4 Pro: Text · Claude Sonnet 5.5: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek V4 ProPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek V4 ProClaude Sonnet 5.5
Price50%3420
Inputs & features30%3580
Context window20%6060
Overall100%39/10046/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Claude Sonnet 5.5 specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek V4 ProDeepSeekClaude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—166.7
ECI rank—#5 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—95.6%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—88.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—100%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—46.5%
Price per million tokens
Input$1.60 (best)$2.00
Output$3.30 (best)$10.00
Cached input—$0.10
Blended (3:1)$2.03 (best)$4.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 56 providersOfficial Anthropic API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Max output384,000 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID—claude-sonnet-5-5
API providers58 (best)34
ReleasedApr 24, 2026Sep 28, 2026
Knowledge cutoffMay 2025Jun 2026
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 V4 Pro$22.60
  • Claude Sonnet 5.5$40.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek V4 Pro or Claude Sonnet 5.5?

Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 46/100 against DeepSeek V4 Pro (39). It leads on inputs & features. DeepSeek V4 Pro wins on price. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 Pro or Claude Sonnet 5.5?

DeepSeek V4 Pro is cheaper at $1.60 input / $3.30 output per million tokens (median across 56 API providers). Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Anthropic API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.03 per million tokens for DeepSeek V4 Pro versus $4.00 for Claude Sonnet 5.5 (2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. DeepSeek V4 Pro has not been scored yet and Claude Sonnet 5.5 has an ECI of 166.7.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V4 Pro and Claude Sonnet 5.5 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

DeepSeek V4 Pro and Claude Sonnet 5.5 share the same 1,000,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V4 Pro up to 384,000, Claude Sonnet 5.5 up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek V4 Pro accepts text; Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts text, images and PDFs. Claude Sonnet 5.5 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek V4 Pro publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Claude Sonnet 5.5 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the newest, released Sep 28, 2026. DeepSeek V4 Pro came out Apr 24, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek V4 Pro May 2025, Claude Sonnet 5.5 Jun 2026.

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 Nov 2, 2026.