Claude Opus 4.6 vs DeepSeek V3.2
Claude Opus 4.6 (2026) and DeepSeek V3.2 (2025) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic and DeepSeek. Claude Opus 4.6 ships a 1M-token context window, while DeepSeek V3.2 ships a 160K-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Claude Opus 4.6 leads by 10.8 pts. On pricing, DeepSeek V3.2 costs $0.26/1M input tokens versus $5/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
DeepSeek V3.2 is ~1831% cheaper at $0.26/1M; pay for Claude Opus 4.6 only for coding workflow support.
Specs
| Released | 2026-02-05 | 2025-01-01 |
| Context window | 1M | 160K |
| Parameters | — | 671B |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Proprietary | Open Source |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Claude Opus 4.6 | DeepSeek V3.2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $5/1M tokens | $0.26/1M tokens |
| Output price | $25/1M tokens | $0.42/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Claude Opus 4.6 | DeepSeek V3.2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Opus 4.6 | DeepSeek V3.2 |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 80.8 | 70.0 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 84.2 | 84.0 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, SWE-bench Verified has Claude Opus 4.6 at 80.8 and DeepSeek V3.2 at 70, with Claude Opus 4.6 ahead by 10.8 points; Google-Proof Q&A has Claude Opus 4.6 at 84.2 and DeepSeek V3.2 at 84, with Claude Opus 4.6 ahead by 0.2 points. The largest visible gap is 10.8 points on SWE-bench Verified, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Claude Opus 4.6, multimodal input: Claude Opus 4.6, reasoning mode: Claude Opus 4.6, function calling: Claude Opus 4.6, and tool use: Claude Opus 4.6. Both models share structured outputs and code execution, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Claude Opus 4.6 lists $5/1M input and $25/1M output tokens, while DeepSeek V3.2 lists $0.26/1M input and $0.42/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts DeepSeek V3.2 lower by about $10.69 per million blended tokens. Availability is 4 providers versus 4, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Claude Opus 4.6 when coding workflow support and larger context windows are central to the workload. Choose DeepSeek V3.2 when coding workflow support and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Claude Opus 4.6 or DeepSeek V3.2?
Claude Opus 4.6 supports 1M tokens, while DeepSeek V3.2 supports 160K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.6 or DeepSeek V3.2?
DeepSeek V3.2 is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5/1M input and $25/1M output tokens. DeepSeek V3.2 costs $0.26/1M input and $0.42/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Claude Opus 4.6 or DeepSeek V3.2 open source?
Claude Opus 4.6 is listed under Proprietary. DeepSeek V3.2 is listed under Open Source. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Claude Opus 4.6 or DeepSeek V3.2?
Claude Opus 4.6 has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for multimodal input, Claude Opus 4.6 or DeepSeek V3.2?
Claude Opus 4.6 has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Claude Opus 4.6 and DeepSeek V3.2?
Claude Opus 4.6 is available on OpenRouter, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, and GCP Vertex AI. DeepSeek V3.2 is available on Fireworks AI, NVIDIA NIM, AWS Bedrock, and OpenRouter. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.