ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.4 mini vs DeepSeek-R1 vs Grok 4.3

Grok 4.3 comes out ahead, 67 to 63 and 51 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek-R1 is 25% cheaper per token.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5.4 mini

    Released Mar 17, 2026

    63/100
    • ECI148.8
    • Price$0.75 / $4.50
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.4 mini

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-R1

    Released Jan 20, 2025

    51/100
    • ECI139.0
    • Price$0.70 / $2.60
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek-R1
  3. Our pick

    xAI

    Grok 4.3

    Released Apr 17, 2026

    67/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.25 / $2.50
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Grok 4.3
01 — Verdict

Grok 4.3 is our pick

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-5.4 mini (63) and DeepSeek-R1 (51). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-R1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGrok 4.3Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.3 149.2 · GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 · DeepSeek-R1 139.0
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek-R1DeepSeek-R1 $1.18 · Grok 4.3 $1.56 · GPT-5.4 mini $1.69 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGrok 4.3Grok 4.3 1,000,000 · GPT-5.4 mini 400,000 · DeepSeek-R1 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGrok 4.3GPT-5.4 mini: Text, Images · DeepSeek-R1: Text · Grok 4.3: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek-R1Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.4 miniDeepSeek-R1Grok 4.3
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%776477
Price25%394741
Inputs & features15%703580
Context window10%442460
Overall100%63/10051/10067/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5.4 mini vs DeepSeek-R1 vs Grok 4.3 specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.4 miniOpenAIDeepSeek-R1DeepSeekGrok 4.3xAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)148.8139.0149.2 (best)
ECI rank#56 of 148#104 of 148#55 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions86.9%71.7%88.8% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics51.2% (best)—42.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics88.9%53.3%93.3% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions29.4%—33.2% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$0.75$0.70 (best)$1.25
Output$4.50$2.60$2.50 (best)
Cached input$0.075 (best)—$0.20
Blended (3:1)$1.69$1.18 (best)$1.56
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateOver 200K: $2.50 / $5.00
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIMedian of 11 providersOfficial xAI API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens128,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output128,000 tokens (best)32,768 tokens30,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesNoYes
PDFsNoNoYes
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYesYeslow · medium · high
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenProprietary
API model IDgpt-5.4-mini—grok-4.3
API providers29 (best)1227
ReleasedMar 17, 2026Jan 20, 2025Apr 17, 2026
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 2025Jul 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.

  • GPT-5.4 mini$16.50
  • DeepSeek-R1$12.20
  • Grok 4.3$17.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.4 mini, DeepSeek-R1 or Grok 4.3?

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against GPT-5.4 mini (63) and DeepSeek-R1 (51). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek-R1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 mini, DeepSeek-R1 or Grok 4.3?

DeepSeek-R1 is cheaper at $0.70 input / $2.60 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). Grok 4.3 costs $1.25 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official xAI API price); GPT-5.4 mini costs $0.75 input / $4.50 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.18 per million tokens for DeepSeek-R1 versus $1.56 for Grok 4.3 (1.3× as much) and $1.69 for GPT-5.4 mini (1.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Grok 4.3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.3 149.2 (#55 of 148), GPT-5.4 mini 148.8 (#56 of 148) and DeepSeek-R1 139.0 (#104 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (147.6–150.8 vs 147.1–150.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Grok 4.3 88.8%, GPT-5.4 mini 86.9%, DeepSeek-R1 71.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Grok 4.3 93.3%, GPT-5.4 mini 88.9%, DeepSeek-R1 53.3%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 mini, DeepSeek-R1 and Grok 4.3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Grok 4.3 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?

Grok 4.3 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.4 mini and 128,000 for DeepSeek-R1. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 mini up to 128,000, DeepSeek-R1 up to 32,768, Grok 4.3 up to 30,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5.4 mini accepts text and images; DeepSeek-R1 accepts text; Grok 4.3 accepts text, images and PDFs. Grok 4.3 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek-R1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 mini and Grok 4.3 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Grok 4.3 is the newest, released Apr 17, 2026. GPT-5.4 mini came out Mar 17, 2026; DeepSeek-R1 came out Jan 20, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 mini Aug 31, 2025, DeepSeek-R1 Jul 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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