DeepSeek R1 vs Qwen3-9B
DeepSeek R1 (2025) and Qwen3-9B (2025) are frontier reasoning models from DeepSeek and Alibaba. DeepSeek R1 ships a 128k-token context window, while Qwen3-9B ships a 256k-token context window. On pricing, Qwen3-9B costs $0.04/1M input tokens versus $0.10/1M 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.
Qwen3-9B is ~150% cheaper at $0.04/1M; pay for DeepSeek R1 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek R1 | Qwen3-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed production | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | RAG, Long context, and Classification |
| Context window | 128k | 256k |
| Cheapest output | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.20/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 14 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- 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.
- Qwen3-9B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3-9B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.20/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3-9B for RAG, Long context, and Classification.
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
Qwen3-9B
$82.00
Cheapest tracked route/tier: DeepInfra
Estimated monthly gap: $73.00. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on DeepInfra; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3-9B is $0.10/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning and Code execution before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on DeepInfra; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek R1 is $0.10/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- DeepSeek R1 adds Reasoning and Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-01-20 | 2025-04-28 |
| Context window | 128k | 256k |
| Parameters | 671B, 37B Active | 9B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Available | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2023-12 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek R1 | Qwen3-9B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.04/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.20/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 | Qwen3-9B |
|---|---|---|
| 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
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.