Model Comparison

DeepSeek R1 Zero vs o3Which is better in 2026?

o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: DeepSeek R1 Zero vs o3 — which is better?

DeepSeek R1 Zero (by DeepSeek) and o3 (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 Zero outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o3 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA). o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose DeepSeek R1 Zero if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose o3 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2025
Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

DeepSeek R1 Zero outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while o3 is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA).

o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jun 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only o3 specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only o3 specifies output context (100,000 tokens).

DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Zero
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
OpenAI
o3
Input200,000 tokens
Output100,000 tokens
Sun Jun 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

o3 supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Zero does not.

o3 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek R1 Zero

Text
Images
Audio
Video

o3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek R1 Zero is licensed under MIT, while o3 uses a proprietary license.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

DeepSeek R1 Zero

MIT

Open weights

o3

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek R1 Zero was released on 2025-01-20, while o3 was released on 2025-04-16.

o3 is 3 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Zero.

DeepSeek R1 Zero

Jan 20, 2025

1.4 years ago

o3

Apr 16, 2025

1.2 years ago

2mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

o3 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while DeepSeek R1 Zero's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm o3's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek R1 Zero's cutoff date.

DeepSeek R1 Zero

—

o3

May 2024

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

DeepSeek
Has open weights
OpenAI
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher AIME 2024 score (91.6% vs 86.7%)
Higher GPQA score (83.3% vs 73.3%)
DeepSeekDeepSeek R1 Zero
OpenAIo3
Compare in Playground

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek R1 Zero
OpenAI
o3

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Zero vs o3.

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Zero or o3?

o3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 Zero is made by DeepSeek and o3 is made by OpenAI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does DeepSeek R1 Zero compare to o3 in benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 Zero scores MATH-500: 95.9%, AIME 2024: 86.7%, GPQA: 73.3%, LiveCodeBench: 50.0%. o3 scores COLLIE: 98.4%, AIME 2024: 91.6%, ARC-AGI: 88.0%, MathVista: 86.8%, AIME 2025: 86.4%.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek R1 Zero and o3?

DeepSeek R1 Zero supports an unknown number of tokens and o3 supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek R1 Zero and o3?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek R1 Zero and o3?

DeepSeek R1 Zero is developed by DeepSeek and o3 is developed by OpenAI.

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