Claude Opus 4.5 vs DeepSeek R1
Claude Opus 4.5 (2025) and DeepSeek R1 (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic and DeepSeek. Claude Opus 4.5 ships a 200k-token context window, while DeepSeek R1 ships a 128k-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Claude Opus 4.5 leads by 31.7 pts. On pricing, DeepSeek R1 costs $0.10/1M input tokens versus $5/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
DeepSeek R1 is ~4900% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Claude Opus 4.5 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Opus 4.5 | DeepSeek R1 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | reasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 200k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $25/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 6 tracked | 14 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | SWE-bench Verified leader | 4 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Opus 4.5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 31.7 points.
- Claude Opus 4.5 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Claude Opus 4.5 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Claude Opus 4.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- DeepSeek R1 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.30/1M tokens.
- DeepSeek R1 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek R1 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Claude Opus 4.5
$10,250
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry
DeepSeek R1
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Bitdeer AI
Estimated monthly gap: $10,095. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, Microsoft Foundry, and AWS Bedrock; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek R1 is $24.70/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on Microsoft Foundry, GCP Vertex AI, and AWS Bedrock; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Opus 4.5 is $24.70/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Claude Opus 4.5 adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-11-01 | 2025-01-20 |
| Context window | 200k | 128k |
| Parameters | — | 671B, 37B Active |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | MITOSI-approved |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open source |
| Weights | Not released | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | 2023-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Opus 4.5 | DeepSeek R1 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $5/1M tokens | $0.10/1M tokens |
| Output price | $25/1M tokens | $0.30/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Opus 4.5 | DeepSeek R1 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Opus 4.5 | DeepSeek R1 |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 80.9 | 49.2 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 87.0 | 71.5 |
| Chatbot Arena | 1466.0 | 1372.0 |
| Aider Polyglot | 72.0 | 56.9 |
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.