AI Reasoning Models Compared: o3 vs DeepSeek R1 vs o4-mini
Compare the chain-of-thought reasoning models from OpenAI and DeepSeek — pricing, exposed reasoning, and which to pick for which problem.
Comparing 3 models · Prices last verified
Verdict
o3 leads on the hardest reasoning benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 delivers near-o3 quality on many tasks at ~5× lower cost and exposes its chain-of-thought, which is invaluable for research. o4-mini is the cheapest OpenAI option when you need reasoning without the o3 bill.
Pricing Comparison
| Model | Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI o3 | OpenAI | $10.00 | $40.00 | 200K | reasoning |
| DeepSeek R1Best value | DeepSeek | $0.550 | $2.19 | 64K | reasoning |
| OpenAI o4-mini | OpenAI | $1.10 | $4.40 | 200K | reasoning |
Model Breakdown
OpenAI
$10.00
per 1M input
OpenAI o3 is a frontier reasoning model that thinks step-by-step before answering. It significantly outperforms previous models on math, science, and complex coding tasks — but at a higher cost due to extended chain-of-thought processing.
DeepSeek
$0.550
per 1M input
DeepSeek R1 is the open-weight reasoning model that disrupted the reasoning-model market by matching o1-class performance at a tiny fraction of the cost. Chain-of-thought is exposed by default.
OpenAI
$1.10
per 1M input
o4-mini brings OpenAI's chain-of-thought reasoning to a smaller, faster, and cheaper form factor. It offers strong performance on STEM tasks at a fraction of o3's cost.
Our Verdict
o3 leads on the hardest reasoning benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 delivers near-o3 quality on many tasks at ~5× lower cost and exposes its chain-of-thought, which is invaluable for research. o4-mini is the cheapest OpenAI option when you need reasoning without the o3 bill.
FAQ
Compare These Models Yourself
Use the TokenRate calculator to enter your budget or token count and see the exact cost for each model side by side.
Open Calculator →More Comparisons