Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro Base
At a Glance
| Compare | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic |  DeepSeek V4 Pro BaseDeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | #24 of 4660.3 score · 3/3 sources · complete | UnrankedNot in the 46-model eligible cohort |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | #31 of 44$0.198 per LiveBench case | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | #31 of 3847.3 score · 3/3 sources · complete | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $3.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | Not reported |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $15.00Anthropic ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 | Not reported |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 1,000K | 1,049K |
| Model facts checked | Sep 3, 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
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Base |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
| Family | Claude 4 | Deepseek V4 Pro Base |
| Model | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Base |
| Version | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Base |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-02-17 | 2026-04-24 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-08-01 | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,000K | 1,049K |
| Total parameters | Unknown | 1.6T |
| Active parameters | Unknown | Unknown |
| License | Unknown | Unknown |
| Open weights | No | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Unknown |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes |
| Provider access | Anthropic (Standard), Deepinfra (Standard) | Unknown |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, structured_outputs, tools | generation |
Claude Sonnet 4.6 Capabilities
DeepSeek V4 Pro Base Capabilities
Related Comparisons
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|---|---|---|---|
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Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle DeepMind | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs | DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs | Grok 4.6xAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs | Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | vs |  Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro Base FAQs
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and DeepSeek V4 Pro Base, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base?+
Only Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a directly sourced input price: $3.00 per million tokens. Only Claude Sonnet 4.6 has a directly sourced output price: $15.00 per million tokens.
Which has a larger context window, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base?+
DeepSeek V4 Pro Base has the larger sourced context window. Claude Sonnet 4.6 supports 1,000K and DeepSeek V4 Pro Base supports 1,049K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: At least two independently verified, protocol-matched benchmarks are required for an overall winner.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base be self-hosted?+
DeepSeek V4 Pro Base is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is not marked open weight; DeepSeek V4 Pro Base is open weight.
Can Claude Sonnet 4.6 and DeepSeek V4 Pro Base understand images?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is documented with image input; DeepSeek V4 Pro Base is not documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 128K and DeepSeek V4 Pro Base is —.
Do Claude Sonnet 4.6 and DeepSeek V4 Pro Base support reasoning and tool use?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. DeepSeek V4 Pro Base: none of these features are definitively sourced. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base?+
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has 2 sourced provider routes; DeepSeek V4 Pro Base has 0, so Claude Sonnet 4.6 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or DeepSeek V4 Pro Base?+
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.