Model Comparison
DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3 VL 4B InstructWhich is better in 2026?
DeepSeek-V3.1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 2.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct — which is better?
DeepSeek-V3.1 (by DeepSeek) and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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-V3.1 outperforms in 4 benchmarks (AIME 2025, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-Redux, SimpleQA), while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. DeepSeek-V3.1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is roughly 2.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose DeepSeek-V3.1 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 4 shared benchmarks
Choose Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct if…
- cost matters — it's about 2.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
DeepSeek-V3.1 outperforms in 4 benchmarks (AIME 2025, MMLU-Pro, MMLU-Redux, SimpleQA), while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.
DeepSeek-V3.1 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek-V3.1 ($0.27/1M tokens) is 2.7x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek-V3.1 ($1.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek-V3.1 is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek-V3.1 has 667.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct, making it 16675.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-V3.1's 163,840 tokens. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while DeepSeek-V3.1 is limited to 163,840 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek-V3.1 does not.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek-V3.1
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-V3.1 is licensed under MIT, 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.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek-V3.1 was released on 2025-01-10, while Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 9 months newer than DeepSeek-V3.1.
Jan 10, 2025
1.5 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
10 months ago
8mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
DeepSeek-V3.1 is available from DeepInfra, Novita. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is available from DeepInfra.
DeepSeek-V3.1
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
DeepSeek-V3.1
View detailsDeepSeek
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.