solar-mini vs DeepSeek-R1
solar-mini comes out ahead, 52 to 39 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Upstage
solar-mini
52/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
DeepSeekDeepSeek-R1
39/100- ECI139.0
- Price$0.70 / $2.60
- Context128K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
solar-mini is our pick
solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (39). It leads on price. DeepSeek-R1 wins on inputs & features and context window. 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 pricesolar-minisolar-mini $0.15 · DeepSeek-R1 $1.18 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextDeepSeek-R1DeepSeek-R1 128,000 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputssolar-mini: Text · DeepSeek-R1: Text
- Self-hostingDeepSeek-R1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | solar-mini | DeepSeek-R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 89 | 47 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 52/100 | 39/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | solar-miniUpstage | DeepSeek-R1DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 139.0 |
| ECI rank | — | #104 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 71.7% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 53.3% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 (best) | $0.70 |
| Output | $0.15 (best) | $2.60 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.15 (best) | $1.18 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Upstage API | Median of 11 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 128,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | solar-mini | — |
| API providers | 1 | 12 (best) |
| Released | Jun 12, 2024 | Jan 20, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 2024 | Jul 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- solar-mini$1.80
- DeepSeek-R1$12.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: solar-mini or DeepSeek-R1?
solar-mini is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against DeepSeek-R1 (39). It leads on price. DeepSeek-R1 wins on inputs & features and context window. 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, solar-mini or DeepSeek-R1?
solar-mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage 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 $0.15 per million tokens for solar-mini versus $1.18 for DeepSeek-R1 (7.8× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. solar-mini has not been scored yet and DeepSeek-R1 has an ECI of 139.0.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for solar-mini and DeepSeek-R1 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-R1 has the largest context window at 128,000 tokens, against 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: solar-mini up to 4,096, DeepSeek-R1 up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
solar-mini accepts text; DeepSeek-R1 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek-R1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; solar-mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
DeepSeek-R1 is the newest, released Jan 20, 2025. solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: solar-mini Sep 2024, 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.
