Model Comparison
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs o4-miniWhich is better in 2026?
o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is 14.3x cheaper per token.
Verdict: DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs o4-mini — which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B (by DeepSeek) and o4-mini (by OpenAI) 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.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o4-mini is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA). o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is roughly 14.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
o4-mini also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B if…
- cost matters — it's about 14.3x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose o4-mini if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o4-mini is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA).
o4-mini significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B ($0.12/1M tokens) is 9.2x cheaper than o4-mini ($1.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B ($0.18/1M tokens) is 24.4x cheaper than o4-mini ($4.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, o4-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
o4-mini accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B's 128,000 tokens. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while o4-mini is limited to 100,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
o4-mini supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B does not.
o4-mini can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
o4-mini
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is licensed under MIT, while o4-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 o4-mini was released on 2025-04-16.
o4-mini is 3 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B.
Jan 20, 2025
1.4 years ago
Apr 16, 2025
1.1 years ago
2mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o4-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm o4-mini's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B's cutoff date.
—
May 2024
Provider Availability
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B is available from DeepInfra. o4-mini is available from OpenAI.
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B
o4-mini
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
o4-mini
View detailsOpenAI
DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32Bo4-miniDetailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B vs o4-mini.