Model Comparison

DeepSeek-V3 vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

DeepSeek-V3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 2.1x cheaper per token.

Want to compare interactively?Try the playground

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

DeepSeek-V3 outperforms in 4 benchmarks (IFEval, MMLU, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-Redux), while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is better at 1 benchmark (SimpleQA).

DeepSeek-V3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri May 01 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct costs less

For input processing, DeepSeek-V3 ($0.27/1M tokens) is 2.7x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).

For output processing, DeepSeek-V3 ($1.10/1M tokens) is 1.8x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.60/1M tokens).

In conclusion, DeepSeek-V3 is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri May 01 2026 • llm-stats.com
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3
Input tokens$0.27
Output tokens$1.10
Best providerDeepSeek
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Input tokens$0.10
Output tokens$0.60
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

667.0B diff

DeepSeek-V3 has 667.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct, making it 16675.0% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3
671.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
4.0Bparameters
671.0B
DeepSeek-V3
4.0B
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-V3's 131,072 tokens. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while DeepSeek-V3 is limited to 131,072 tokens.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3
Input131,072 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Fri May 01 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek-V3 does not.

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek-V3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-V3 is licensed under MIT + Model License (Commercial use allowed), while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

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

DeepSeek-V3

MIT + Model License (Commercial use allowed)

Open weights

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V3 was released on 2024-12-25, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 9 months newer than DeepSeek-V3.

DeepSeek-V3

Dec 25, 2024

1.3 years ago

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

Sep 22, 2025

7 months ago

9mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

DeepSeek-V3 is available from DeepSeek. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is available from DeepInfra.

DeepSeek-V3

deepseek logo
DeepSeek
Input Price:Input: $0.27/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.10/1M

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.10/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.60/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

DeepSeek
Higher IFEval score (86.1% vs 82.3%)
Higher MMLU score (88.5% vs 77.2%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (75.9% vs 67.1%)
Higher MMLU-Redux score (89.1% vs 81.5%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Higher SimpleQA score (48.0% vs 24.9%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V3
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V3 vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct

DeepSeek-V3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. DeepSeek-V3 is made by DeepSeek and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
DeepSeek-V3 scores DROP: 91.6%, CLUEWSC: 90.9%, MATH-500: 90.2%, MMLU-Redux: 89.1%, MMLU: 88.5%. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 95.3%, ScreenSpot: 94.0%, OCRBench: 88.1%, MMBench-V1.1: 85.1%, AI2D: 84.1%.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 2.7x cheaper for input tokens. DeepSeek-V3 costs $0.27/M input and $1.10/M output via deepseek. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct costs $0.10/M input and $0.60/M output via deepinfra.
DeepSeek-V3 supports 131K tokens and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (131K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.27 vs $0.10/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT + Model License (Commercial use allowed) vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
DeepSeek-V3 is developed by DeepSeek and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.