DeepSeek R1 0528 vs o4-mini
DeepSeek R1 0528 (2025) and o4-mini (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from DeepSeek and OpenAI. DeepSeek R1 0528 ships a 130k-token context window, while o4-mini ships a 200k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, DeepSeek R1 0528 leads by 1.8 pts. On pricing, DeepSeek R1 0528 costs $0.50/1M input tokens versus $1/1M 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 ~100% cheaper at $0.50/1M; pay for o4-mini only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek R1 0528 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed production | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 130k | 200k |
| Cheapest output | $2.15/1M tokens | $4/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 7 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | MMLU PRO leader | 6 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- DeepSeek R1 0528 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 1.8 points.
- 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.
- o4-mini holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 10.5 points.
- o4-mini has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- o4-mini uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags o4-mini 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.
DeepSeek R1 0528
$938
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
o4-mini
$1,800
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Replicate API
Estimated monthly gap: $863. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- o4-mini is $1.85/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- o4-mini adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 is $1.85/1M 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.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-28 | 2025-04-16 |
| Context window | 130k | 200k |
| Parameters | 685B total, 37B active (MoE) | — |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Proprietary |
| Openness | Open source | Proprietary |
| Weights | Unknown | Not released |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2025-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek R1 0528 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.50/1M tokens | $1/1M tokens |
| Output price | $2.15/1M tokens | $4/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 0528 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 0528 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 85.0 | 83.2 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 57.6 | 68.1 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 81.0 | 81.4 |
| AIME 2025 | 87.5 | 98.4 |
| LiveCodeBench | 73.3 | 87.3 |
| Aider Polyglot | 71.4 | 72.0 |
Continue comparing
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs o3 Deep Research
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Phi-4 Mini Flash Reasoning
- DeepSeek R1 vs o4-mini
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Grok 4
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V3
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs GPT-5.5
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Grok Build 0.1
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs GLM-5
Popular comparisons for DeepSeek R1 0528
Popular comparisons for o4-mini
Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.