ModelRefs / DeepSeek R1 vs o4 Mini — Benchmarks, Pricing & Coding Compa…
DeepSeek R1 vs o4 Mini — Benchmarks, Pricing & Coding Compa…
DeepSeek R1 vs o4 Mini: side-by-side benchmarks, pricing, context windows, coding ability and deployment. Pick the right model for your stack.
Overview
DeepSeek R1: DeepSeek R1 is DeepSeek's open-source reasoning model, trained with reinforcement learning to produce chain-of-thought reasoning before answering. Released in January 2025 under the MIT license, it matched or exceeded closed reasoning models on several math and coding benchmarks.
o4 Mini: o4 Mini is OpenAI's next-generation efficient reasoning model adding vision support to the mini reasoning tier. It is optimized for agentic tasks requiring both image understanding and step-by-step logic at low cost-per-task.
Context window: DeepSeek R1 accepts up to 128,000 tokens, o4 Mini up to 200,000. Confirm the limit for your specific deployment channel before relying on it.
DeepSeek R1 vs o4 Mini at a glance
| Attribute | DeepSeek R1 | o4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | OpenAI |
| Released | 2025-01-20 | 2025-09-01 |
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 200,000 tokens |
| Input price | $0.55/M tokens | $1.1/M tokens |
| Output price | $2.19/M tokens | $4.4/M tokens |
| Licence | MIT | Proprietary |
| Self-hostable | Yes, open weights | No, hosted only |
| Modalities | text | text, vision |
Benchmarks reported for both
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 | o4 Mini | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpqa | 71.5 | 77.6 | 2025-01-20 |
Scores are as published by their cited sources on the dates shown. Different runs use different harnesses, prompts, and dates, so treat these as directional evidence rather than a head-to-head result.
Where they differ most
- Cost Efficiency: DeepSeek R1 75%, o4 Mini 63%. DeepSeek R1 leads on this dimension.
- Reasoning: DeepSeek R1 76%, o4 Mini 78%. o4 Mini leads on this dimension.
Capability scores are ModelRefs' own derived signals, not vendor claims or benchmark results. Validate against your own workload before relying on them.
Continue your research
Use these connected ModelRefs sections to compare alternatives, inspect implementation paths, and review the evidence and governance boundaries relevant to DeepSeek R1 vs o4 Mini — Benchmarks, Pricing & Coding Compa….
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, DeepSeek R1 or o4 Mini?
DeepSeek R1 and o4 Mini target different workloads — see the benchmark and pricing tables for a side-by-side answer.
Is DeepSeek R1 cheaper than o4 Mini?
Compare $0.00055 vs $0.00110 on this page.