DeepSeek V3.1 vs o4-mini
DeepSeek V3.1 (2026) and o4-mini (2025) are frontier reasoning models from DeepSeek and OpenAI. DeepSeek V3.1 ships a 64K-token context window, while o4-mini ships a not-yet-sourced context window. On MMLU PRO, DeepSeek V3.1 leads by a hair. On pricing, o4-mini costs $0.5/1M input tokens versus $0.56/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
DeepSeek V3.1 is safer overall; choose o4-mini when coding workflow support matters.
Specs
| Released | 2026-03-01 | 2025-04-16 |
| Context window | 64K | — |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | mixture of experts | decoder only |
| License | Open Source | Proprietary |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2025-08 |
Pricing and availability
| DeepSeek V3.1 | o4-mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.56/1M tokens | $0.5/1M tokens |
| Output price | $1.68/1M tokens | $2/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| DeepSeek V3.1 | o4-mini | |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ||
| Multimodal | ||
| Reasoning | ||
| Function calling | ||
| Tool use | ||
| Structured outputs | ||
| Code execution |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 | o4-mini |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 83.3 | 83.2 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 66.0 | 68.1 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, MMLU PRO has DeepSeek V3.1 at 83.3 and o4-mini at 83.2, with DeepSeek V3.1 ahead by 0.1 points; SWE-bench Verified has DeepSeek V3.1 at 66 and o4-mini at 68.1, with o4-mini ahead by 2.1 points. The largest visible gap is 2.1 points on SWE-bench Verified, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on reasoning mode: o4-mini, function calling: o4-mini, and tool use: o4-mini. Both models share vision, multimodal input, structured outputs, and code execution, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, DeepSeek V3.1 lists $0.56/1M input and $1.68/1M output tokens, while o4-mini lists $0.5/1M input and $2/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts DeepSeek V3.1 lower by about $0.05 per million blended tokens. Availability is 6 providers versus 4, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose DeepSeek V3.1 when coding workflow support and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose o4-mini when coding workflow support and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3.1 or o4-mini?
o4-mini is cheaper on tracked token pricing. DeepSeek V3.1 costs $0.56/1M input and $1.68/1M output tokens. o4-mini costs $0.5/1M input and $2/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is DeepSeek V3.1 or o4-mini open source?
DeepSeek V3.1 is listed under Open Source. o4-mini is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, DeepSeek V3.1 or o4-mini?
Both DeepSeek V3.1 and o4-mini expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Which is better for multimodal input, DeepSeek V3.1 or o4-mini?
Both DeepSeek V3.1 and o4-mini expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Which is better for reasoning mode, DeepSeek V3.1 or o4-mini?
o4-mini has the clearer documented reasoning mode signal in this comparison. If reasoning mode is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run DeepSeek V3.1 and o4-mini?
DeepSeek V3.1 is available on Microsoft Foundry, Fireworks AI, NVIDIA NIM, Together AI, and AWS Bedrock. o4-mini is available on OpenAI API, OpenRouter, OpenAI Batch API, and Replicate API. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-04-24. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.