DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-4.1
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
DeepSeek · May 2025
The open reasoning model that started it all — RL-trained chain-of-thought, MIT licensed, and a research landmark.
OpenAI · Apr 2025
A non-reasoning workhorse with a 1M-token context window, still popular for predictable-latency production APIs.
The verdict
DeepSeek R1 (0528) wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for GPT-4.1. On price the gap is dramatic: DeepSeek R1 (0528) works out roughly 3.6x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-4.1 also takes 1M of context versus 128K for DeepSeek R1 (0528). And DeepSeek R1 (0528) is open-weights (MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
Benchmark head-to-head 1–0
Specs & pricing
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | GPT-4.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | 67.8 | — |
| Input price / 1M | $0.55 | $2 |
| Output price / 1M | $2.19 | $8 |
| Context window | 128K | 1M |
| Max output | 64K | 33K |
| Open weights | yes (MIT) | no |
| Reasoning model | yes | no |
| Multimodal input | text | text, image |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2025 | Jun 2024 |
| Released | May 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $8.79 | $32.00 |
* 10M input + 1.5M output tokens per month at list prices, no caching. Green = better value on that row.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or GPT-4.1?
- DeepSeek R1 (0528) wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for GPT-4.1. On price the gap is dramatic: DeepSeek R1 (0528) works out roughly 3.6x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-4.1 also takes 1M of context versus 128K for DeepSeek R1 (0528). And DeepSeek R1 (0528) is open-weights (MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
- Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or GPT-4.1?
- DeepSeek R1 (0528) costs $0.55/$2.19 per million input/output tokens, while GPT-4.1 costs $2/$8. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $8.79 versus $32.00.
- Which model is better for coding, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or GPT-4.1?
- We don't yet track SWE-bench Verified results for both models; check their individual pages for coding-related scores.