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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 8B vs DeepSeek-R1

Qwen3 8B comes out ahead, 56 to 51 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 8B

    Released Apr 28, 2025

    56/100
    • ECI136.2
    • Price$0.18 / $0.70
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 8B

  2. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek-R1

    Released Jan 20, 2025

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

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3 8B is our pick

Qwen3 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (51). It leads on price. DeepSeek-R1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek-R1Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-R1 139.0 · Qwen3 8B 136.2
  • Lowest priceQwen3 8BQwen3 8B $0.31 · DeepSeek-R1 $1.18 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 8BQwen3 8B 131,072 · DeepSeek-R1 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3 8B: Text · DeepSeek-R1: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 8BDeepSeek-R1
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6164
Price25%7447
Inputs & features15%3535
Context window10%2424
Overall100%56/10051/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3 8B vs DeepSeek-R1 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 8BAlibaba (Qwen)DeepSeek-R1DeepSeek
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)136.2139.0 (best)
ECI rank#113 of 148#104 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions56.8%71.7% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics56.1% (best)53.3%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.18 (best)$0.70
Output$0.70 (best)$2.60
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.31 (best)$1.18
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 11 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output8,192 tokens32,768 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3-8b—
API providers112 (best)
ReleasedApr 28, 2025Jan 20, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 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.

  • Qwen3 8B$3.20
  • DeepSeek-R1$12.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 8B or DeepSeek-R1?

Qwen3 8B is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (51). It leads on price. DeepSeek-R1 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3 8B or DeepSeek-R1?

Qwen3 8B is cheaper at $0.18 input / $0.70 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). DeepSeek-R1 costs $0.70 input / $2.60 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.31 per million tokens for Qwen3 8B versus $1.18 for DeepSeek-R1 (3.8× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek-R1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek-R1 139.0 (#104 of 148) and Qwen3 8B 136.2 (#113 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (136.2–140.4 vs 129.7–138.1), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — DeepSeek-R1 71.7%, Qwen3 8B 56.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3 8B 56.1%, DeepSeek-R1 53.3%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 8B and DeepSeek-R1 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek-R1 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?

Qwen3 8B has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for DeepSeek-R1. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 8B up to 8,192, DeepSeek-R1 up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 8B accepts text; DeepSeek-R1 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 8B is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. DeepSeek-R1 came out Jan 20, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 8B Apr 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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