DeepSeek V3 vs Grok 4.5
Head-to-head comparison across 1benchmark categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
Verdict
Grok 4.5 leads for most workloads.
- DeepSeek V3 is ~7.4× cheaper on input tokens — the budget pick.
Based on BenchLM composite scores, July 2026.
DeepSeek V3
40
Grok 4.5
75
Pick Grok 4.5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V3 only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Category Radar
Head-to-Head by Category
Category Breakdown
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3 | Δ | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 39.2 | → 25.5 | 64.7 |
| Agentic | — | — | 83.3 |
| Knowledge | 72.8 | — | — |
| Inst. Following | 86.1 | — | — |
Operational Comparison
DeepSeek V3
Grok 4.5
$0.27 / $1.1
$2 / $6
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
128K
500K
Quick Verdict
Pick Grok 4.5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V3 only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Grok 4.5 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 75 to 40. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Grok 4.5's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 64.7 against 39.2.
Grok 4.5 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.27 input / $1.10 output per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V3. That is roughly 5.5x on output cost alone. Grok 4.5 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. Grok 4.5 gives you the larger context window at 500K, compared with 128K for DeepSeek V3.
Benchmark Deep Dive
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, DeepSeek V3 or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 75 to 40.
Which is better for coding, DeepSeek V3 or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 64.7 versus 39.2. DeepSeek V3 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
Self-host vs API cost
Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.
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