GPT-5 Mini vs DeepSeek R1 0528
GPT-5 Mini comes out ahead, 64 to 53 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-5 Mini
64/100- ECI145.4
- Price$0.25 / $2.00
- Context400K
DeepSeekDeepSeek R1 0528
53/100- ECI141.2
- Price$0.512 / $2.19
- Context164K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
GPT-5 Mini is our pick
GPT-5 Mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53). It leads on capability, price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5 MiniCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 Mini 145.4 · DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2
- Lowest priceGPT-5 MiniGPT-5 Mini $0.688 · DeepSeek R1 0528 $0.932 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5 MiniGPT-5 Mini 400,000 · DeepSeek R1 0528 163,840 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-5 MiniGPT-5 Mini: Text, Images · DeepSeek R1 0528: Text
- Self-hostingDeepSeek R1 0528Publishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5 Mini | DeepSeek R1 0528 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 71 | 66 |
| Price | 25% | 55 | 49 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 44 | 28 |
| Overall | 100% | 64/100 | 53/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-5 MiniOpenAI | DeepSeek R1 0528DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 145.4 (best) | 141.2 |
| ECI rank | #87 of 165 (best) | #108 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 75.0% | 76.3% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 46.7% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 86.7% (best) | 66.4% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 64.7% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 21.6% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.25 (best) | $0.512 |
| Output | $2.00 (best) | $2.19 |
| Cached input | $0.025 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.688 (best) | $0.932 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 16 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 400,000 tokens (best) | 163,840 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenMIT |
| API model ID | gpt-5-mini | — |
| API providers | 35 (best) | 16 |
| Released | Aug 7, 2025 | May 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 30, 2024 | — |
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 Mini$6.50
- DeepSeek R1 0528$9.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5 Mini or DeepSeek R1 0528?
GPT-5 Mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 64/100 against DeepSeek R1 0528 (53). It leads on capability, price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5 Mini or DeepSeek R1 0528?
GPT-5 Mini is cheaper at $0.25 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). DeepSeek R1 0528 costs $0.512 input / $2.19 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.688 per million tokens for GPT-5 Mini versus $0.932 for DeepSeek R1 0528 (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5 Mini scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5 Mini 145.4 (#87 of 165) and DeepSeek R1 0528 141.2 (#108 of 165). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (143.5–147.1 vs 139.0–142.9), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek R1 0528 76.3%, GPT-5 Mini 75.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5 Mini 86.7%, DeepSeek R1 0528 66.4%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek R1 0528 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5 Mini 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?
GPT-5 Mini has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek R1 0528. Maximum output per response: GPT-5 Mini up to 128,000, DeepSeek R1 0528 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5 Mini accepts text and images; DeepSeek R1 0528 accepts text. GPT-5 Mini handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek R1 0528 publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; GPT-5 Mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-5 Mini is the newest, released Aug 7, 2025. DeepSeek R1 0528 came out May 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Mini May 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 Nov 2, 2026.
Related comparisons
- Add Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507Three-way comparison
- GPT-5 Mini vs Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507Alibaba (Qwen) · ECI 143.8
- GPT-5 Mini vs Kimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AI · ECI 145.9
- GPT-5 Mini vs GLM-4.7Z.ai (Zhipu) · ECI 143.7
- GPT-5 Mini vs Gemini 2.5 Flash Preview 05-20Google · ECI 141.5
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Gemini 2.5 FlashGoogle · ECI 140.6
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Kimi K2 InstructMoonshot AI · ECI 139.9
