DeepSeek R1 Zero vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
DeepSeek R1 Zero and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) are closely matched at 16.0 and 16.5 on the LLM Stats Score.
DeepSeek · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Zero and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 16.0 and 16.5.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, DeepSeek R1 Zero wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Zero
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
Choose Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 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 Zero · 4 for Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
DeepSeek R1 Zero outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA), while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is better at 1 benchmark (LiveCodeBench).
DeepSeek R1 Zero shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek R1 Zero has 663.0B more parameters than Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512), making it 8287.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) specifies input context (262,100 tokens). Only Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) specifies output context (262,100 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Zero does not.
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek R1 Zero
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek R1 Zero is licensed under MIT, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) 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 Zero was released on 2025-01-20, while Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) was released on 2025-12-04.
Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) is 11 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Zero.
Jan 20, 2025
1.7 years ago
Dec 4, 2025
10 months ago
10mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Zero and Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512) side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Zero vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512).