DeepSeek V4 vs GPT-5 nano
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
DeepSeek · Mar 2026
The open-weights shock of 2026: ~81% SWE-bench Verified, a 1M context and MIT license at $0.30/$0.50 per million tokens.
OpenAI · Aug 2025
OpenAI's cheapest model — $0.05 per million input tokens — for latency-critical routing, autocomplete and bulk tagging.
The verdict
These two models don't yet share verified results on the benchmarks we track, so judge them on specs, pricing and intended use. GPT-5 nano is about 2.5x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). DeepSeek V4 also takes 1M of context versus 400K for GPT-5 nano. And DeepSeek V4 is open-weights (MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
Specs & pricing
| DeepSeek V4 | GPT-5 nano | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | — |
| Input price / 1M | $0.3 | $0.05 |
| Output price / 1M | $0.5 | $0.4 |
| Context window | 1M | 400K |
| Max output | 64K | 128K |
| Open weights | yes (MIT) | no |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text | text, image |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 2025 | May 2024 |
| Released | Mar 2026 | Aug 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $3.75 | $1.10 |
* 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 V4 or GPT-5 nano?
- These two models don't yet share verified results on the benchmarks we track, so judge them on specs, pricing and intended use. GPT-5 nano is about 2.5x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). DeepSeek V4 also takes 1M of context versus 400K for GPT-5 nano. And DeepSeek V4 is open-weights (MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
- Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or GPT-5 nano?
- DeepSeek V4 costs $0.3/$0.5 per million input/output tokens, while GPT-5 nano costs $0.05/$0.4. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $3.75 versus $1.10.
- Which model is better for coding, DeepSeek V4 or GPT-5 nano?
- We don't yet track SWE-bench Verified results for both models; check their individual pages for coding-related scores.