DeepSeek R1 vs Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
DeepSeek R1 (2025) and Llama 3.1 70B Instruct (2024) are frontier reasoning models from DeepSeek and AI at Meta. DeepSeek R1 ships a 128k-token context window, while Llama 3.1 70B Instruct ships a 128k-token context window. On HumanEval, DeepSeek R1 leads by 5.8 pts. On pricing, DeepSeek R1 costs $0.10/1M input tokens versus $0.40/1M 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 ~300% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Llama 3.1 70B Instruct only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek R1 | Llama 3.1 70B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed production | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Long context |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.40/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 14 tracked | 13 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | HumanEval leader | 1 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- DeepSeek R1 holds a shared-benchmark lead on HumanEval, ahead by 5.8 points.
- 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.
- DeepSeek R1 uniquely exposes Reasoning and Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek R1 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Local decision data tags Llama 3.1 70B Instruct for Coding, RAG, and Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
DeepSeek R1
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Bitdeer AI
Llama 3.1 70B Instruct
$420
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Hyperbolic AI Inference
Estimated monthly gap: $265. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Together AI, Fireworks AI, and NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 3.1 70B Instruct is $0.10/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning and Code execution before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, Together AI, and Fireworks AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek R1 is $0.10/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- DeepSeek R1 adds Reasoning and Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-01-20 | 2024-07-23 |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Parameters | 671B, 37B Active | 70B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Llama 3 Community |
| Openness | Open source | Open weights |
| Weights | Available | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | 2023-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek R1 | Llama 3.1 70B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.40/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.40/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 | Llama 3.1 70B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 | Llama 3.1 70B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| HumanEval | 89.9 | 84.1 |
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-11. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.