Model Comparison
DeepSeek-V3 vs Magistral MediumWhich is better in 2026?
Magistral Medium shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Verdict: DeepSeek-V3 vs Magistral Medium — which is better?
DeepSeek-V3 (by DeepSeek) and Magistral Medium (by Mistral AI) 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-V3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Aider-Polyglot), while Magistral Medium is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA, LiveCodeBench). Magistral Medium shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Choose DeepSeek-V3 if…
- you want predictable pricing at $0.27/M input and $1.10/M output
Choose Magistral Medium if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek-V3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Aider-Polyglot), while Magistral Medium is better at 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, GPQA, LiveCodeBench).
Magistral Medium shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek-V3 has 647.0B more parameters than Magistral Medium, making it 2695.8% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only DeepSeek-V3 specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only DeepSeek-V3 specifies output context (131,072 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Magistral Medium supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek-V3 does not.
Magistral Medium can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek-V3
Magistral Medium
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-V3 is licensed under MIT + Model License (Commercial use allowed), while Magistral Medium uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT + Model License (Commercial use allowed)
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek-V3 was released on 2024-12-25, while Magistral Medium was released on 2025-06-10.
Magistral Medium is 6 months newer than DeepSeek-V3.
Dec 25, 2024
1.5 years ago
Jun 10, 2025
1.0 years ago
5mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Magistral Medium has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-06-01, while DeepSeek-V3's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Magistral Medium's training data extends to 2025-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek-V3's cutoff date.
—
Jun 2025
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
DeepSeek-V3
View detailsDeepSeek
Magistral Medium
View detailsMistral AI
Detailed Comparison
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FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-V3 vs Magistral Medium.