DeepSeek-R1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B
Comparing DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3 235B A22B across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.
DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3 235B A22B trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.
On price, Qwen3 235B A22B is roughly 9.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
DeepSeek-R1 also accepts a larger context window (131,072 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek-R1
- you process long inputs — it offers a 131,072 token context window
Choose Qwen3 235B A22B
- cost matters — it's about 9.6x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
0 reported for DeepSeek-R1 · 23 for Qwen3 235B A22B
DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3 235B A22Bdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek-R1 ($0.55/1M tokens) is 5.5x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek-R1 ($2.19/1M tokens) is 21.9x more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B ($0.10/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek-R1 is more expensive than Qwen3 235B A22B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek-R1 has 436.0B more parameters than Qwen3 235B A22B, making it 185.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
DeepSeek-R1 accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to Qwen3 235B A22B's 128,000 tokens. DeepSeek-R1 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Qwen3 235B A22B is limited to 128,000 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-R1 is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 235B A22B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek-R1 was released on 2025-01-20, while Qwen3 235B A22B was released on 2025-04-29.
Qwen3 235B A22B is 3 months newer than DeepSeek-R1.
Jan 20, 2025
1.6 years ago
Apr 29, 2025
1.4 years ago
3mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
DeepSeek-R1 is available from DeepSeek, DeepInfra, Together, Fireworks. Qwen3 235B A22B is available from Fireworks, DeepInfra, Novita, Together.
DeepSeek-R1
Qwen3 235B A22B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-R1 and Qwen3 235B A22B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-R1 vs Qwen3 235B A22B.