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Model comparison

DeepSeek V3 vs o4-mini (high)

Updated July 30, 2026. Public scores include evidence status and uncertainty. They are not guarantees for a specific workload.

DeepSeek V3

DeepSeek

44.1/100

Supported · Public rank #154

90% interval 25.5–62.8

o4-mini (high)

OpenAI

49.1/100

Estimated · Public rank #123

90% interval 37.6–60.6

o4-mini (high) has the higher public score estimate, 49.14 versus 44.15, but the 90% score intervals overlap. Treat that as a lead, not a settled winner.

1 results are shared. Category rows based on different benchmark sets are marked directional and do not name a winner.

Which one for your work

Recommendations appear only when a shared evidence basis or an explicit operating constraint supports the call. Secondary and unsupported use cases stay disclosed below the initial list.

  • Long documents

    Prompts that approach the documented context limit

    o4-mini (high)

    o4-mini (high) has the larger documented context window.

    Confidence: documented

Show secondary and unsupported calls
  • Coding work

    Code generation, repair, and software-engineering tasks

    Not enough matched evidence

    No shared weighted benchmark basis supports a winner.

    Confidence: limited

  • Agentic work

    Tool use, computer use, and multi-step task completion

    Not enough matched evidence

    No shared weighted benchmark basis supports a winner.

    Confidence: limited

  • Chat turn cost

    1K fresh input + 500 output tokens

    Not enough matched evidence

    A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.

    Confidence: listed-rates

  • Cache-heavy agent loop cost

    200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens

    Not enough matched evidence

    The page does not recommend a cost winner because at least one model cannot fit the stated workload in one request. DeepSeek V3 does not fit this workload in one request. o4-mini (high) does not fit this workload in one request. o4-mini (high) has no comparable published API token rate.

    Confidence: listed-rates

  • Repository review cost

    50K fresh input + 3K output tokens

    Not enough matched evidence

    A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.

    Confidence: listed-rates

What is actually comparable

Shared results can support a head-to-head reading. Results present for only one model describe coverage, not superiority.

Shared results
1
DeepSeek V3 only
5
o4-mini (high) only
1
Like-for-like categories
0 / 8

1 category uses different evidence sets. Those rows remain visible for coverage context but do not name a winner.

Category results, on a stated basis

Each row states whether both averages use the same weighted benchmark set. Directional and not-comparable rows remain visible, but they never receive a winner in this template.

Math

Directional only
DeepSeek V3
1.7
o4-mini (high)
20.2
Weighted basis
1 vs 2 rows
Reading
Directional only

Agentic

Not comparable
DeepSeek V3
Not measured
o4-mini (high)
Not measured
Weighted basis
0 vs 0 rows
Reading
Not comparable

Coding

Not comparable
DeepSeek V3
38.9
o4-mini (high)
Not measured
Weighted basis
2 vs 0 rows
Reading
Not comparable

Reasoning

Not comparable
DeepSeek V3
Not measured
o4-mini (high)
Not measured
Weighted basis
0 vs 0 rows
Reading
Not comparable

Knowledge

Not comparable
DeepSeek V3
72.7
o4-mini (high)
Not measured
Weighted basis
2 vs 0 rows
Reading
Not comparable

Multilingual

Not comparable
DeepSeek V3
Not measured
o4-mini (high)
Not measured
Weighted basis
0 vs 0 rows
Reading
Not comparable

Multimodal

Not comparable
DeepSeek V3
Not measured
o4-mini (high)
Not measured
Weighted basis
0 vs 0 rows
Reading
Not comparable

Instruction following

Not comparable
DeepSeek V3
86.1
o4-mini (high)
Not measured
Weighted basis
1 vs 0 rows
Reading
Not comparable

Shape of the matched evidence

Only shared public evidence is shown. Sparse evidence stays a ruled list rather than being closed into a radar shape.

Too few matched category axes support a radar. The ruled list below shows only shared benchmark results; positions use each benchmark’s normalized display scale when available.

  • FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)

    Math

    DeepSeek V3: 1.724%o4-mini (high): 24.828%Normalized gap 23.1Shared source

What each workload costs

Three fixed token mixes turn per-token rates into comparable decisions. Each scenario states context fit and whether cached input had to fall back to the published list-input rate.

Chat turn

1K fresh input + 500 output tokens

DeepSeek V3
$0.00082
Fits in one request
o4-mini (high)
API rate not published
Fits in one request

o4-mini (high) has no comparable published API token rate.

Repository review

50K fresh input + 3K output tokens

DeepSeek V3
$0.0168
Fits in one request
o4-mini (high)
API rate not published
Fits in one request

o4-mini (high) has no comparable published API token rate.

Cache-heavy agent loop

200K cached + 20K fresh input + 10K output tokens

DeepSeek V3
$0.0304
Does not fit in one request
o4-mini (high)
API rate not published
Does not fit in one request
Cached-input rate unavailable

DeepSeek V3 does not fit this workload in one request. o4-mini (high) does not fit this workload in one request. o4-mini (high) has no comparable published API token rate.

Specification differences

Sourced differences are shown directly. Missing facts stay explicit instead of being inferred from a model name or family.

Context window

Maximum documented context; output-token limits may be lower.

DeepSeek V3

128K

o4-mini (high)

200K

API model ID

DeepSeek V3

Not sourced

o4-mini (high)

Not sourced

Cached-input rate

A missing cached-input rate falls back to the listed input rate only in the stated workload estimate.

DeepSeek V3

$0.07 per 1M cached input tokens

o4-mini (high)

No comparable hosted API rate

Documented inputs

DeepSeek V3

Not sourced

o4-mini (high)

Not sourced

Documented outputs

DeepSeek V3

Not sourced

o4-mini (high)

Not sourced

Provider availability

DeepSeek V3

Not sourced

o4-mini (high)

Not sourced

Reasoning profile

DeepSeek V3

Non-Reasoning

o4-mini (high)

Reasoning

Weight access

DeepSeek V3

Open Weight

o4-mini (high)

Proprietary

License

DeepSeek V3

Open Weight

o4-mini (high)

Proprietary

Release date

DeepSeek V3

2024-12-26

o4-mini (high)

2025-04-16

If you already use one of these models
Deployment change
The models list different providers, so authentication, endpoint behavior, limits, and feature support may change.
Quality signal
o4-mini (high) has the higher public score estimate, 49.14 versus 44.15, but the 90% score intervals overlap.
Workload cost
A complete comparable API-rate estimate is not available for both models.
Context tradeoff
o4-mini (high) has the larger documented window (200K).

Run the same representative tasks against both endpoints before changing production traffic.

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
o4-mini (high)
API / mo$0
Self-host / moNot listed
Break-even
Proprietary model — self-hosting not applicable.
Model the full break-even

Benchmark evidence

The full public result ledger is available for audit without forcing a wide desktop table onto a phone.

Browse raw public benchmark evidence7 rows

Coding

  • LiveCodeBench

    DeepSeek V337.6%
    Source
    o4-mini (high)

    Not directly comparable

  • SWE-bench Verified

    DeepSeek V342%
    Source
    o4-mini (high)

    Not directly comparable

Knowledge

  • GPQA

    DeepSeek V359.1%
    Source
    o4-mini (high)

    Not directly comparable

  • MMLU-Pro

    DeepSeek V375.9%
    Source
    o4-mini (high)

    Not directly comparable

Math

  • FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)

    Shared source
    DeepSeek V31.724%
    o4-mini (high)24.828%

    o4-mini (high) leads this result

  • FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)

    DeepSeek V3
    o4-mini (high)6.250%
    Source

    Not directly comparable

Instruction following

  • IFEval

    DeepSeek V386.1%
    Source
    o4-mini (high)

    Not directly comparable

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, DeepSeek V3 or o4-mini (high)?

o4-mini (high) has the higher public score estimate, 49.14 versus 44.15, but the 90% score intervals overlap. The higher estimate is not a decisive winner because the uncertainty ranges overlap.

Which is better for coding, DeepSeek V3 or o4-mini (high)?

The published evidence does not provide a shared weighted coding basis for both models, so BenchLM does not name a coding winner.

Which is better for agentic tasks, DeepSeek V3 or o4-mini (high)?

The published evidence does not provide a shared weighted agentic tasks basis for both models, so BenchLM does not name a agentic tasks winner.

Which costs less, DeepSeek V3 or o4-mini (high)?

Both models do not have comparable published API token rates, so this page does not name a universal price winner.

Which has the larger context window, DeepSeek V3 or o4-mini (high)?

o4-mini (high) has the larger documented context window: 200K, compared with 128K.

Related comparisons

Last updated July 30, 2026

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