GPT-3.5 Turbo vs DeepSeek-R1 Comparison

Comparing GPT-3.5 Turbo and DeepSeek-R1 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

GPT-3.5 Turbo and DeepSeek-R1 don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

GPT-3.5 Turbo costs less

For input processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($0.50/1M tokens) is 1.1x cheaper than DeepSeek-R1 ($0.55/1M tokens).

For output processing, GPT-3.5 Turbo ($1.50/1M tokens) is 1.5x cheaper than DeepSeek-R1 ($2.19/1M tokens).

In conclusion, DeepSeek-R1 is more expensive than GPT-3.5 Turbo.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers

Mon Mar 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Input tokens$0.50

Output tokens$1.50

Best providerAzure

DeepSeek-R1

Input tokens$0.55

Output tokens$2.19

Best providerDeepSeek

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Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

DeepSeek-R1 accepts 131,072 input tokens compared to GPT-3.5 Turbo's 16,385 tokens. DeepSeek-R1 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while GPT-3.5 Turbo is limited to 4,096 tokens.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Input16,385 tokens

Output4,096 tokens

DeepSeek-R1

Input131,072 tokens

Output131,072 tokens

Mon Mar 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

GPT-3.5 Turbo is licensed under a proprietary license, while DeepSeek-R1 uses MIT.

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

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

DeepSeek-R1

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

GPT-3.5 Turbo was released on 2023-03-21, while DeepSeek-R1 was released on 2025-01-20.

DeepSeek-R1 is 22 months newer than GPT-3.5 Turbo.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Mar 21, 2023

3.0 years ago

DeepSeek-R1

Jan 20, 2025

1.2 years ago

1.8yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

GPT-3.5 Turbo has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2021-09-30, while DeepSeek-R1's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm GPT-3.5 Turbo's training data extends to 2021-09-30, but cannot make a direct comparison without DeepSeek-R1's cutoff date.

GPT-3.5 Turbo

Sep 2021

DeepSeek-R1

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Provider Availability

GPT-3.5 Turbo is available from Azure, OpenAI. DeepSeek-R1 is available from DeepSeek, DeepInfra, Together, Fireworks. The availability of providers can affect quality of the model and reliability.