DeepSeek R1 vs GPT-4o

At a Glance

Compare
DeepSeek R1DeepSeek
GPT-4oOpenAI
Pricing and Limits
Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens$0.70Openrouter · Aug 28, 2026$1.25Openrouter · Sep 22, 2026
Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens$2.50Openrouter · Aug 28, 2026$5.00Openrouter · Sep 22, 2026
Context windowMaximum documented tokens164K128K
Model facts checkedAug 28, 2026View model evidence →Aug 29, 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

All benchmark results →
BenchmarkDeepSeek-R1GPT-4o
LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader1,372.60100% of row best · rating · deepseek-r1; 95% CI [1367.75270193, 1377.44238946]; votes 18524; rank 1681,282.4593% of row best · rating · gpt-4o-2024-08-06; 95% CI [1278.25455133, 1286.63762056]; votes 45499; rank 254
Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above1 benchmark winNo overall winner0 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

FieldDeepSeek-R1GPT-4o
DeveloperDeepSeekOpenAI
FamilyDeepseek R1Gpt 4o
ModelDeepSeek-R1GPT-4o
VersionDeepSeek-R1GPT-4o
Lifecycleactiveactive
Released2025-01-20Unknown
Knowledge cutoffUnknown2023-10-01
Input modalitiesTextText, Image
Output modalitiesTextText
Context window164K128K
Total parameters684.5BUnknown
Active parameters37BUnknown
LicensemitUnknown
Open weightsYesNo
API availableYesYes
Self-hostableYesNo
Provider accessHugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard)Openai (Standard), Openrouter (Standard)
Capabilitieschat, generation, reasoningchat, generation, tools

DeepSeek R1 Capabilities

chatgenerationreasoning
Serving providers2
Canonical IDdeepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1

GPT-4o Capabilities

chatgenerationtools
Serving providers2
Canonical IDopenai/gpt-4o

Primary Evidence

Sources and Freshness

Questions

DeepSeek R1 vs GPT-4o FAQs

Is DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o better for coding?+

This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both DeepSeek R1 and GPT-4o, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?+

DeepSeek R1 is $0.70 and GPT-4o is $1.25 per million tokens, so DeepSeek R1 is cheaper on this metric. DeepSeek R1 is $2.50 and GPT-4o is $5.00 per million tokens, so DeepSeek R1 is cheaper on this metric.

Which has a larger context window, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?+

DeepSeek R1 has the larger sourced context window. DeepSeek R1 supports 164K and GPT-4o supports 128K.

Which performs better in benchmarks, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?+

There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.

Can DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o be self-hosted?+

DeepSeek R1 is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. DeepSeek R1 is open weight; GPT-4o is not marked open weight.

Can DeepSeek R1 and GPT-4o understand images?+

DeepSeek R1 is not documented with image input; GPT-4o is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.

Which can generate longer answers, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?+

DeepSeek R1 has the larger sourced maximum output: DeepSeek R1 supports 33K and GPT-4o supports 16K output tokens.

Do DeepSeek R1 and GPT-4o support reasoning and tool use?+

DeepSeek R1: reasoning. GPT-4o: tool calling and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.

Which is available from more inference providers, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?+

DeepSeek R1 has 2 sourced provider routes; GPT-4o has 2, a tie.

Which offers better value, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?+

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.

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