DeepSeek V3 vs Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8
DeepSeek V3 (2024) and Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 (2025) are compact production models from DeepSeek and AI at Meta. DeepSeek V3 ships a 64k-token context window, while Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 ships a 1m-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 leads by 4.6 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
DeepSeek V3 is ~50% cheaper at $0.10/1M; pay for Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 only for long-context analysis.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek V3 | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | tool-calling agents and provider-routed production | multimodal apps, long-context analysis, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, Agents, and Classification | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 64k | 1m |
| Cheapest output | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 13 tracked | 11 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 6 shared | MMLU PRO leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- DeepSeek V3 holds a shared-benchmark lead on LiveCodeBench, ahead by 6.2 points.
- DeepSeek V3 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.30/1M tokens.
- DeepSeek V3 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- DeepSeek V3 uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek V3 for Coding, Agents, and Classification.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 4.6 points.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 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 V3
$155
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Bitdeer AI
Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8
$270
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $115. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on Microsoft Foundry, Together AI, and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 is $0.30/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
- Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on DeepInfra, Fireworks AI, and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek V3 is $0.30/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
- DeepSeek V3 adds JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2024-12-26 | 2025-04-05 |
| Context window | 64k | 1m |
| Parameters | 671B | 400B (17B active) |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | Mixture of Experts |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Llama 4 Community |
| Openness | Open source | Open weights |
| Weights | Available | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-04 | 2024-08 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek V3 | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.10/1M tokens | $0.15/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.30/1M tokens | $0.60/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek V3 | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3 | Llama 4 Maverick 17B Instruct FP8 |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 75.9 | 80.5 |
| LiveCodeBench | 49.6 | 43.4 |
| HumanEval | 85.5 | 77.4 |
| Chatbot Arena | 1302.0 | 1365.0 |
| Aider Polyglot | 48.4 | 15.6 |
| BigCodeBench | 50.0 | 49.7 |
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-09. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.