DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs Grok-3 Mini
Grok-3 Mini leads the LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 13.3. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is 2.6x cheaper per token.
DeepSeek · xAI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Grok-3 Mini leads the overall LLM Stats Score 31.7 to 13.3, ranking #98 overall.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Grok-3 Mini wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is roughly 2.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
- cost matters — it's about 2.6x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose Grok-3 Mini
- overall performance matters — it scores 31.7 and ranks #98 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 3 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
4 reported for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B · 4 for Grok-3 Mini
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Grok-3 Mini is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA, LiveCodeBench).
Grok-3 Mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B ($0.12/1M tokens) is 2.5x cheaper than Grok-3 Mini ($0.30/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B ($0.18/1M tokens) is 2.8x cheaper than Grok-3 Mini ($0.50/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Grok-3 Mini is more expensive than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Grok-3 Mini is limited to 8,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Grok-3 Mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B does not.
Grok-3 Mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Grok-3 Mini
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is licensed under MIT, while Grok-3 Mini uses a proprietary license.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B was released on 2025-01-20, while Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17.
Grok-3 Mini is 1 month newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B.
Jan 20, 2025
1.6 years ago
Feb 17, 2025
1.5 years ago
4w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Grok-3 Mini's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B's cutoff date.
—
Nov 2024
Provider Availability
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is available from DeepInfra. Grok-3 Mini is available from xAI.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
Grok-3 Mini
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B and Grok-3 Mini side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs Grok-3 Mini.