Cost and performance comparison
DeepSeek R1 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
Model ADeepSeek
DeepSeek R1
- Cost / 1M Tokens
- $1.04
- 70% in · 30% out mix
- Value Index (score÷cost)
- 87.5
- Higher = better value
- Speed
- 60/100
- Context
- 128K
- Tier
- Power Tier
Last list price before the model was retired.
Across the 25 languages we measured, it needs about 21% more tokens than OpenAI's for the same text. Costs by language
Model BDeepSeek
DeepSeek V4 Pro
- Cost / 1M Tokens
- $2.11
- 70% in · 30% out mix
- Value Index (score÷cost)
- 44.6
- Higher = better value
- Speed
- 70/100
- Context
- 1.0M
- Tier
- Power Tier
List price from the DeepSeek pricing page, verified October 12, 2026.
Across the 25 languages we measured, it needs about 21% more tokens than OpenAI's for the same text. Costs by language
Check the sourceIn-depth analysis
DeepSeek R1 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro: Detailed Comparison
DeepSeek R1 is DeepSeek's flagship-tier language model with a 128K-token context window, excelling at reasoning. DeepSeek V4 Pro from DeepSeek is a flagship-tier model supporting 1.0M tokens in context, with standout performance in reasoning.
DeepSeek V4 Pro costs 2.0x what DeepSeek R1 does for the same text. That is a steep premium, and it buys a 9-point lead on combined coding and reasoning. Whether that trade is worth it depends entirely on how much of your traffic actually needs the harder model — for most workloads the honest answer is a small fraction of it, which is an argument for routing rather than for picking one. DeepSeek R1 is priced at $0.55/M input tokens and $2.19/M output tokens. DeepSeek V4 Pro costs $1.32/M input and $3.96/M output.
On iOPTERA's editorial scores, DeepSeek V4 Pro leads with 94/100 for coding and 96/100 for reasoning, against DeepSeek R1's 88/100 and 93/100.
Capability breakdown
Across the five core benchmark categories, here is how DeepSeek R1 and DeepSeek V4 Pro stack up head to head:
Best model by task
- coding: DeepSeek V4 Pro wins with 94/100
- reasoning: DeepSeek V4 Pro wins with 96/100
- data extraction: DeepSeek V4 Pro wins with 90/100
- creative tasks: DeepSeek V4 Pro wins with 88/100
Estimated monthly cost at scale
For 10M + 2M tokens of text a month (counted the way OpenAI's tokenizer counts), DeepSeek R1 runs about $10.08 while DeepSeek V4 Pro runs about $21.54 — DeepSeek R1 saves roughly $11.46 (53%) every month.
What actually decides it
Both models come from DeepSeek, so they share a tokenizer, an API surface, and a billing account. Switching between them is a model-string change and nothing else — no new SDK, no re-tokenizing your prompts to re-estimate cost, no second vendor to onboard. That makes routing between them far cheaper to implement than a cross-vendor split.
These are the same lab's model at the same tier, 15 months apart — so this is an upgrade question, not a choice between alternatives. DeepSeek V4 Pro is the current entry; DeepSeek R1 is here because plenty of production traffic still runs on it. If you are starting something new there is little reason to pick the older one, and if you are already on it the question is whether the migration cost is worth the gain.
The context gap is the largest single difference on this pair: DeepSeek V4 Pro takes 1.0M tokens against 128K for DeepSeek R1, roughly 7.8x. That is the difference between feeding in a whole repository or a full contract set and having to chunk it. If your work involves documents you cannot split cleanly, this decides it on its own.
Throughput is close enough to ignore — 70/100 versus 60/100. Neither model will feel noticeably quicker in an interactive product, so latency is not a reason to choose between them.
DeepSeek V4 Pro is 2.0x the price of DeepSeek R1. Reserve it for the requests that actually need it and route the rest to DeepSeek R1 — that hybrid beats either model used alone on cost per useful answer.
What you actually pay
The list price is only the start. Prompt caching, batch processing and long prompts change the bill, and each provider sets them differently. Prices per 1M tokens.
| Pricing term | DeepSeek R1 | DeepSeek V4 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| List price (input / output) | $0.55 / $2.19 | $1.32 / $3.96 |
| Cached input | — | $0.0443.3% of the input price |
| Batch API | — | Not on the price page |
| Long prompts | — | No surcharge across the 1M window |
| Off-peak | — | 50% off outside 01:00–04:00, 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays |
| Input with 80% cache hits | — | $0.299 |
The last row assumes 80% of input tokens are read from the cache, as in a chat app that re-sends a long system prompt or RAG over the same documents. Cache-write and storage charges are not included.
Checked on October 8, 2026 against the pricing pages of DeepSeek.
Capability scores
iOPTERA editorial scores across 5 categories — informed by public benchmarks, not measured by us
Coding
Reasoning
Extraction
Creative
Vision
Speed Score
Context Window
What Is a Token?
Models don't read words — they process tokens.
A token is roughly 4 characters of English text (~¾ of a word). Your API bill is priced per million tokens — understanding this directly reduces your costs.
Short phrase
"Hello, world!"
- DeepSeek R1
- $0.22
- DeepSeek V4 Pro
- $0.54
Business email
One typical email (~200 words)
- DeepSeek R1
- $15.15
- DeepSeek V4 Pro
- $36.35
Code file
50-line Python script
- DeepSeek R1
- $22.44
- DeepSeek V4 Pro
- $53.86
Prices shown are for 100,000 runs of each workload — one run costs a fraction of a cent on both DeepSeek R1 and DeepSeek V4 Pro, so the number only becomes meaningful at production volume. Input tokens only; add your output volume in the calculator below.
How to check your token usage
response.usage.total_tokensEvery API response includes a usage object. Sum total_tokens across all calls to get your monthly figure, then use the calculator below.
Your Cost Calculator
Enter your actual monthly token usage to see real savings
Quick Presets
DeepSeek R1
$31.89/mo
$382.62/yr
DeepSeek V4 Pro
$64.63/mo
$775.53/yr
Annual Savings
$392.90 saved per year
DeepSeek R1 cheaper · $32.74/mo
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