Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs DeepSeek R1 0528
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (2026) and DeepSeek R1 0528 (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic and DeepSeek. Claude Sonnet 4.6 ships a 1m-token context window, while DeepSeek R1 0528 ships a 130k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads by 2.3 pts. On pricing, DeepSeek R1 0528 costs $0.50/1M input tokens versus $3/1M 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 0528 is ~500% cheaper at $0.50/1M; pay for Claude Sonnet 4.6 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | DeepSeek R1 0528 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 1m | 130k |
| Cheapest output | $15/1M tokens | $2.15/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 6 tracked | 7 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | MMLU PRO leader | 5 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 2.3 points.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.6 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.15/1M tokens.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek R1 0528 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 Sonnet 4.6
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
DeepSeek R1 0528
$938
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $5,213. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on GCP Vertex AI, OpenRouter, and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 is $12.85/1M 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 OpenRouter, GCP Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $12.85/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-02-17 | 2025-05-28 |
| Context window | 1m | 130k |
| Parameters | — | 685B total, 37B active (MoE) |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | MITOSI-approved |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open source |
| Weights | Not released | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-08 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | DeepSeek R1 0528 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $3/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Output price | $15/1M tokens | $2.15/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | DeepSeek R1 0528 |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Yes | No |
| Parallel agents | Yes | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | DeepSeek R1 0528 |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 87.3 | 85.0 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 79.6 | 57.6 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 89.9 | 81.0 |
| AIME 2025 | 94.0 | 87.5 |
| LiveCodeBench | 80.0 | 73.3 |
Continue comparing
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- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Kimi K2.6
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Composer 2.5
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GPT-5.5 Pro
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Gemini 3.5 Flash
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GLM-5.1
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.