Claude Sonnet 5 vs DeepSeek V3
At a Glance
| Compare | Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic |  DeepSeek V3DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | #26 of 4660.1 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 40.0–73.4 | UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | #29 of 44$0.194 per LiveBench case | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | #30 of 3847.4 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 37.4–54.0 | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $2.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $0.2574Openrouter ↗ · Aug 29, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $10.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | $0.89Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 1,000K | 164K |
| Model facts checked | Aug 28, 2026View model evidence → | Aug 28, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek-V3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,442.15100% of row best · rating · claude-sonnet-5-high; 95% CI [1437.57467941, 1446.71829948]; votes 35301; rank 62 | 1,332.3992% of row best · rating · deepseek-v3; 95% CI [1327.66209525, 1337.12686082]; votes 21770; rank 209 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 1 benchmark winNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek-V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
| Family | Claude 5 | Deepseek V3 |
| Model | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek-V3 |
| Version | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek-V3 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-06-30 | 2024-12-26 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,000K | 164K |
| Total parameters | Unknown | 684.5B |
| Active parameters | Unknown | 37B |
| License | Unknown | Unknown |
| Open weights | No | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
| Provider access | Anthropic (Standard), Deepinfra (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) | Deepinfra (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, tools | chat, generation |
Claude Sonnet 5 Capabilities
DeepSeek V3 Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
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Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic | vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic | vs | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Sonnet 5 vs DeepSeek V3 FAQs
Is Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 5 and DeepSeek V3, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3?+
Claude Sonnet 5 is $2.00 and DeepSeek V3 is $0.2574 per million tokens, so DeepSeek V3 is cheaper on this metric. Claude Sonnet 5 is $10.00 and DeepSeek V3 is $0.89 per million tokens, so DeepSeek V3 is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3?+
Claude Sonnet 5 has the larger sourced context window. Claude Sonnet 5 supports 1,000K and DeepSeek V3 supports 164K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3 be self-hosted?+
DeepSeek V3 is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Claude Sonnet 5 is not marked open weight; DeepSeek V3 is open weight.
Can Claude Sonnet 5 and DeepSeek V3 understand images?+
Claude Sonnet 5 is documented with image input; DeepSeek V3 is not documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 5 is 128K and DeepSeek V3 is —.
Do Claude Sonnet 5 and DeepSeek V3 support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Sonnet 5: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. DeepSeek V3: none of these features are definitively sourced. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3?+
Claude Sonnet 5 has 3 sourced provider routes; DeepSeek V3 has 3, a tie.
Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.