DeepSeek R1 Zero vs Ministral 3 (8B Reasoning 2512)
DeepSeek R1 Zero shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
DeepSeek · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
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.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose DeepSeek R1 Zero
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 3 shared benchmarks
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.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
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.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind 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
Supported data types and modalities
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
1.6 years ago
Dec 4, 2025
8 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).
Related comparisons
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