Model Comparison
Claude Opus 4 vs DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)Which is better in 2026?
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is 95.2x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Claude Opus 4 vs DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) — which is better?
Claude Opus 4 (by Anthropic) and DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) (by DeepSeek) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Claude Opus 4 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified). DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is roughly 95.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Opus 4 also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Claude Opus 4 if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
Choose DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 95.2x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude Opus 4 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified).
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 4 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 53.6x more expensive than DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) ($0.28/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 4 ($75.00/1M tokens) is 178.6x more expensive than DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) ($0.42/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 4 is more expensive than DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking).*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Opus 4 accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)'s 131,072 tokens. DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) can generate longer responses up to 65,536 tokens, while Claude Opus 4 is limited to 32,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Claude Opus 4 supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) does not.
Claude Opus 4 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude Opus 4
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 4 is licensed under a proprietary license, while DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 4 was released on 2025-05-22, while DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) was released on 2025-12-01.
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is 6 months newer than Claude Opus 4.
May 22, 2025
1.1 years ago
Dec 1, 2025
6 months ago
6mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 4 is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking) is available from DeepSeek.
Claude Opus 4
DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude Opus 4
View detailsAnthropic
Claude Opus 4DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking)Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 4 vs DeepSeek-V3.2 (Thinking).