Model comparison
Claude 4 Sonnet vs DeepSeek V3.2
Head-to-head evidence from 13 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude 4 Sonnet #158 (Supported); DeepSeek V3.2 #82 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude 4 Sonnet and DeepSeek V3.2 share 13 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 3 results are unique to Claude 4 Sonnet; 6 to DeepSeek V3.2.
Updated July 22, 2026- Shared results
- 13
- Claude 4 Sonnet only
- 3
- DeepSeek V3.2 only
- 6
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick DeepSeek V3.2 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Claude 4 Sonnet only becomes the better choice if coding is the priority or you need the larger 200K context window.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 13 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
DeepSeek V3.2 is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 55.4 to 42.79. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Claude 4 Sonnet is also the more expensive model on tokens at $3.00 input / $15.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.28 input / $0.42 output per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V3.2. That is roughly 35.7x on output cost alone. Claude 4 Sonnet gives you the larger context window at 200K, compared with 128K for DeepSeek V3.2.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude 4 Sonnet | Δ | DeepSeek V3.2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | Claude 4 Sonnet72.7 | Margin← 11.8 | DeepSeek V3.260.9 |
| Math | Claude 4 SonnetNot measured | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V3.217.1 |
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude 4 Sonnet | DeepSeek V3.2 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude 4 Sonnet$3 input / $15 output | DeepSeek V3.2$0.28 input / $0.42 output | DeepSeek V3.2 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude 4 Sonnet40 tok/s | DeepSeek V3.235 tok/s | Claude 4 Sonnet has the higher measured throughput. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude 4 Sonnet1.33 s | DeepSeek V3.23.75 s | Claude 4 Sonnet reaches the first token sooner. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude 4 Sonnet200K | DeepSeek V3.2128K | Claude 4 Sonnet lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic5 benchmarks
CodingClaude 4 Sonnet wins4 benchmarks
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge6 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude 4 Sonnet | DeepSeek V3.2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 25.5% | 24.7% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 68.3% | 75.1% | DeepSeek V3.2 leads |
| AA-HLESource | 4.0% | 10.5% | DeepSeek V3.2 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -9.2% | -46.7% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 22.4% | 24.2% | DeepSeek V3.2 leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 40.8% | 93.5% | Claude 4 Sonnet leads |
Math2 benchmarks
Multimodal2 benchmarks
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude 4 Sonnet | DeepSeek V3.2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | 45.4% | 49.0% | DeepSeek V3.2 leads |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Claude 4 Sonnet or DeepSeek V3.2?
DeepSeek V3.2 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 55.4 to 42.79.
Which is better for coding, Claude 4 Sonnet or DeepSeek V3.2?
Claude 4 Sonnet has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72.7 versus 60.9. Inside this category, AA-SciCode is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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