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Model comparison

DeepSeek V3 vs GPT-5.5

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 18 shared benchmark results across 7 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

DeepSeek
44.97/100
Margin
28.5pts
winning →
OpenAI
73.51/100
1 category wins2 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: DeepSeek V3 #147 (Supported); GPT-5.5 #9 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. DeepSeek V3 and GPT-5.5 share 18 comparable benchmark results. 3 of 8 categories are comparable. 4 results are unique to DeepSeek V3; 39 to GPT-5.5.

Updated July 22, 2026
Shared results
18
DeepSeek V3 only
4
GPT-5.5 only
39
Comparable categories
3 / 8

Pick GPT-5.5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V3 only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 18 shared benchmark results across 7 evidence categories; 3 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

GPT-5.5 is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 73.51 to 44.97. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

GPT-5.5's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 47.6 against 1.7. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3), 1.724% to 51.700%. DeepSeek V3 does hit back in knowledge, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.

GPT-5.5 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $5.00 input / $30.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.27 input / $1.10 output per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V3. That is roughly 27.3x on output cost alone. GPT-5.5 is the reasoning model in the pair, while DeepSeek V3 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. GPT-5.5 gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 128K for DeepSeek V3.

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 scores and score margins for DeepSeek V3 and GPT-5.5
CategoryDeepSeek V3ΔGPT-5.5
MathDeepSeek V31.7Margin 45.9GPT-5.547.6
CodingDeepSeek V338.9Margin 19.7GPT-5.558.6
KnowledgeDeepSeek V372.7Margin 14.9GPT-5.557.8
AgenticDeepSeek V3Not measuredMarginNo overlapGPT-5.581.6
ReasoningDeepSeek V3Not measuredMarginNo overlapGPT-5.585.0
MultimodalDeepSeek V3Not measuredMarginNo overlapGPT-5.570.4
Inst. FollowingDeepSeek V386.1MarginNo overlapGPT-5.5Not measured

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

More
A · DeepSeek V3B · GPT-5.5
  1. FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)

    Math
    Source ↗
    A 1.724%B 51.700%
    Winner: GPT-5.5Δ 50
    FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3): DeepSeek V3 scored 1.724%; GPT-5.5 scored 51.700%. GPT-5.5 wins this benchmark.
  2. GPQA

    Knowledge
    Source ↗
    A 59.1%B 93.6%
    Winner: GPT-5.5Δ 34.5
    GPQA: DeepSeek V3 scored 59.1%; GPT-5.5 scored 93.6%. GPT-5.5 wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensDeepSeek V3$0.27 input / $1.1 outputGPT-5.5$5 input / $30 outputDeepSeek V3 has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondDeepSeek V3Not availableGPT-5.5Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenDeepSeek V3Not availableGPT-5.5Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensDeepSeek V3128KGPT-5.51MGPT-5.5 lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Result
AA Agentic IndexSource 1.6%44.9%GPT-5.5 leads
τ²-bench resultsSource 22.8%93.9%GPT-5.5 leads
GDPval-AASource 0.0%49.5%GPT-5.5 leads
GDPval-AASource 2171490GPT-5.5 leads
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 82%Not comparable
CyberGymSource 81.8%Not comparable
BrowseCompSource 84.4%Not comparable
OSWorld-VerifiedSource 78.7%Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource 75.3%Not comparable
ToolathlonSource 55.6%Not comparable
APEX-Agents-AASource 37.7%Not comparable
Gert LabsSource 72.93%Not comparable
ResearchClawBenchSource 17.0%Not comparable
OSWorld 2.0Source 13.0%Not comparable
JobBenchSource 42.7%Not comparable
ExploitGymSource 13.4%Not comparable
AA BriefcaseSource 1154Not comparable
AA AutomationBenchSource 42.1%Not comparable
AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource 46.6%Not comparable
AA Harvey LABSource 86.3%Not comparable
AA ITBenchSource 45.8%Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource 31.3%Not comparable
terminalBenchHardSource 60.6%Not comparable
aaTerminalBench21Source 84.3%Not comparable
CodingGPT-5.5 wins
BenchmarkDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Result
LiveCodeBenchSource 37.6%Not comparable
SWE-bench VerifiedSource 42%Not comparable
AA Coding IndexSource 23.0%74.9%GPT-5.5 leads
AA-SciCodeSource 35.4%56.1%GPT-5.5 leads
SWE-bench ProSource 58.6%Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 82.0%Not comparable
Vibe Code BenchSource 69.85%Not comparable
React Native EvalsSource 84.7%Not comparable
cursorBench31Source 59.2%Not comparable
cursorBench32Source 58.4%Not comparable
FrontierCode 1.1 MainSource 43.0%Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Result
AA-LCRSource 29.0%74.3%GPT-5.5 leads
CritPtSource 0.0%27.1%GPT-5.5 leads
MRCR v2 64K-128KSource 83.1%Not comparable
MRCR v2 128K-256KSource 87.5%Not comparable
ARC-AGI-2Source 85%Not comparable
KnowledgeDeepSeek V3 wins
BenchmarkDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Result
GPQASource 59.1%93.6%GPT-5.5 leads
MMLU-ProSource 75.9%Not comparable
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 14.2%54.8%GPT-5.5 leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 55.7%93.5%GPT-5.5 leads
AA-HLESource 3.6%44.3%GPT-5.5 leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource -41.3%20.1%GPT-5.5 leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 25.4%56.9%GPT-5.5 leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 89.4%85.5%GPT-5.5 leads
GPQA-DSource 93.6%Not comparable
HLESource 52.2%Not comparable
HLE w/o toolsSource 41.4%Not comparable
MathGPT-5.5 wins
BenchmarkDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Result
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source 1.724%51.700%GPT-5.5 leads
FrontierMath (legacy)Source 51.7%Not comparable
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)Source 35.400%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Result
Design Arena WebsiteSource 11501282GPT-5.5 leads
MMMU-ProSource 81.2%Not comparable
MMMU-Pro w/ PythonSource 83.2%Not comparable
OfficeQA ProSource 54.1%Not comparable
AA-MMMU-ProSource 79.9%Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkDeepSeek V3GPT-5.5Result
IFEvalSource 86.1%Not comparable
AA-IFBenchSource 34.8%75.9%GPT-5.5 leads
Frequently Asked Questions (4)

Which is better, DeepSeek V3 or GPT-5.5?

GPT-5.5 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 73.51 to 44.97. The biggest single separator in this matchup is FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3), where the scores are 1.724% and 51.700%.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, DeepSeek V3 or GPT-5.5?

DeepSeek V3 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.7 versus 57.8. Inside this category, AA-Omniscience Index is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, DeepSeek V3 or GPT-5.5?

GPT-5.5 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 58.6 versus 38.9. Inside this category, AA Coding Index is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, DeepSeek V3 or GPT-5.5?

GPT-5.5 has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 47.6 versus 1.7. Inside this category, FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3) is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Self-host vs API cost

Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.

DeepSeek V3
API / mo$1,028
Self-host / mo$18,221
Break-even1.2B/day
GPT-5.5
API / mo$26,250
Self-host / moNot listed
Break-even
Proprietary model — self-hosting not applicable.
Model the full break-even

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Last updated: July 22, 2026

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