DeepSeek R1 Zero vs Qwen3 235B A22B
DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen3 235B A22B are closely matched at 16.0 and 15.6 on the LLM Stats Score.
DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen3 235B A22B are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 16.0 and 15.6.
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 Qwen3 235B A22B
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 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 · 23 for Qwen3 235B A22B
DeepSeek R1 Zero outperforms in 2 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA), while Qwen3 235B A22B 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 436.0B more parameters than Qwen3 235B A22B, making it 185.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 235B A22B specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Qwen3 235B A22B specifies output context (128,000 tokens).
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek R1 Zero 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 Zero 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 Zero.
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.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen3 235B A22B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Zero vs Qwen3 235B A22B.