LLM Reference

DeepSeek R1 vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

DeepSeek R1 (2025) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from DeepSeek and Alibaba. DeepSeek R1 ships a 128k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262k-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B leads by 27 pts. On pricing, DeepSeek R1 costs $0.10/1M input tokens versus $0.39/1M 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 ~290% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B only for long-context analysis.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalDeepSeek R1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Best forreasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed productionreasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window128k262k
Cheapest output$0.30/1M tokens$2.34/1M tokens
Provider routes14 tracked4 tracked
Shared benchmarks2 sharedSWE-bench Verified leader

Decision tradeoffs

Choose DeepSeek R1 when...
  • 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 Code execution in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags DeepSeek R1 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose Qwen3.5-397B-A17B when...
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 27 points.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-397B-A17B 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.

Lower estimate DeepSeek R1

DeepSeek R1

$155

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Bitdeer AI

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

$897

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $742. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

DeepSeek R1 -> Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Together AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is $2.04/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B -> DeepSeek R1
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Together AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • DeepSeek R1 is $2.04/1M 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.
  • DeepSeek R1 adds Code execution in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2025-01-202026-02-16
Context window128k262k
Parameters671B, 37B Active397B
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyMixture of Experts
LicenseMITOSI-approvedApache 2.0OSI-approved
OpennessOpen sourceOpen source
WeightsAvailableAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff2023-12-

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeDeepSeek R1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Input price$0.10/1M tokens$0.39/1M tokens
Output price$0.30/1M tokens$2.34/1M tokens
Providers
DeepSeek PlatformOpenRouterTogether AIFireworks AINVIDIA NIMMicrosoft Foundry
OpenRouterTogether AIAlibaba Cloud PAI-EASNovita AI

Capabilities

CapabilityDeepSeek R1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
VisionNoYes
MultimodalNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
JSON / Tool useNoYes
Structured outputsYesYes
Code executionYesNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkDeepSeek R1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
SWE-bench Verified49.276.2
Google-Proof Q&A71.589.3

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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.