Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct vs DeepSeek V3 0324 vs DeepSeek-V3
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct comes out ahead, 58 to 54 and 50 on our weighted score, though DeepSeek V3 0324 is 13% cheaper per token.
- Our pick
MetaLlama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct
58/100- ECI132.2
- Price$0.321 / $0.91
- Context1M
DeepSeekDeepSeek V3 0324
54/100- ECI135.9
- Price$0.24 / $0.90
- Context164K
- DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3
50/100- ECI132.3
- Price$0.32 / $1.10
- Context131K
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is our pick
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54) and DeepSeek-V3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability and price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityDeepSeek V3 0324Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 · DeepSeek-V3 132.3 · Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 132.2
- Lowest priceDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.405 · Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct $0.468 · DeepSeek-V3 $0.515 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextLlama 4 Maverick 17B InstructLlama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 1,000,000 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 · DeepSeek-V3 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsLlama 4 Maverick 17B InstructLlama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct: Text, Images · DeepSeek V3 0324: Text · DeepSeek-V3: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct | DeepSeek V3 0324 | DeepSeek-V3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 56 | 60 | 56 |
| Price | 25% | 66 | 68 | 64 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 50 | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 10% | 60 | 28 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 58/100 | 54/100 | 50/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Llama 4 Maverick 17B InstructMeta | DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek | DeepSeek-V3DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 132.2 | 135.9 (best) | 132.3 |
| ECI rank | #122 of 148 | #114 of 148 (best) | #121 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 67.0% | 67.6% (best) | 56.5% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 20.6% | 37.8% (best) | 15.8% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.321 | $0.24 (best) | $0.32 |
| Output | $0.91 | $0.90 (best) | $1.10 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.468 | $0.405 (best) | $0.515 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 6 providers | Median of 5 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 163,840 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 16,384 tokens | 163,840 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | OpenDeepSeek Model License |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 6 (best) | 5 | 5 |
| Released | Apr 5, 2025 | Mar 24, 2025 | Dec 26, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 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.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct$5.03
- DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
- DeepSeek-V3$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct, DeepSeek V3 0324 or DeepSeek-V3?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54) and DeepSeek-V3 (50). It leads on inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability and price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct, DeepSeek V3 0324 or DeepSeek-V3?
DeepSeek V3 0324 is cheaper at $0.24 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct costs $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). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.405 per million tokens for DeepSeek V3 0324 versus $0.468 for Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct (1.2× as much) and $0.515 for DeepSeek-V3 (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
DeepSeek V3 0324 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#114 of 148), DeepSeek-V3 132.3 (#121 of 148) and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 132.2 (#122 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (132.4–138.0 vs 127.5–135.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek V3 0324 67.6%, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 67.0%, DeepSeek-V3 56.5%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek V3 0324 37.8%, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct 20.6%, DeepSeek-V3 15.8%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct, DeepSeek V3 0324 and DeepSeek-V3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V3 0324 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 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324 and 131,072 for DeepSeek-V3. Maximum output per response: Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct up to 16,384, DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, DeepSeek-V3 up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct accepts text and images; DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; DeepSeek-V3 accepts text. Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (DeepSeek Model License), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 5, 2025. DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025; DeepSeek-V3 came out Dec 26, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: 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.
Related comparisons
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct vs Magistral SmallMistral AI · ECI 133.2
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct vs GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI · ECI 135.0
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct vs Qwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen) · ECI 136.2
- DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Qwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen) · ECI 136.2
- DeepSeek V3 0324 vs GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI · ECI 135.0
- DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Mistral Medium 3Mistral AI · ECI 134.1
