Free tool
Qwen vs DeepSeek API pricing, compared model by model
On 10 October 2026 the cheapest Qwen model costs $0.03 per million input tokens against $0.035 for the cheapest DeepSeek model, and the typical Qwen model is the cheaper of the two.
| Qwen (Alibaba) | DeepSeek (DeepSeek) | |
|---|---|---|
| Models listed | 42 | 14 |
| Cheapest model | Qwen3.7 Flash, $0.03 in, $0.13 out | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423, $0.035 in, $0.17 out |
| Most expensive model | Qwen3.8 Max Prime, $4.00 in, $12.00 out | DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423, $0.45 in, $3.48 out |
| Median input price | $0.1975 | $0.27 |
| Median output price | $1.00 | $1.00 |
| Largest context | 1.05M, Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | 1.05M, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Newest model | Qwen3.8 Max Prime, 2026-09-23 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, 2026-09-10 |
| Models with a batch price | 0 | 1 |
Every model, with your monthly cost
| Model | Provider | Input | Output | Cached input | Batch in / out | Context | Your month | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3.8 Max Prime | Alibaba | $4.00 | $12.00 | $0.50 | 1M | $420.00 | 2026-09-23 | |
| Qwen3.8 Omni Flash | Alibaba | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 | 1M | $16.05 | 2026-09-21 | |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | DeepSeek | $0.15 | $0.60 | $0.003 | $0.112 / $0.336 | 1.05M | $18.00 | 2026-09-10 |
| Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Alibaba | $2.00 | $6.00 | $0.25 | 1M | $210.00 | 2026-09-03 | |
| Qwen3.8 Flash | Alibaba | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 | 1M | $16.05 | 2026-08-26 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.44 | $1.32 | $0.014 | 1.05M | $46.20 | 2026-08-21 | |
| Qwen3.8 27B | Alibaba | $0.425 | $2.55 | $0.085 | 1M | $63.75 | 2026-08-14 | |
| Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | Alibaba | $2.00 | $6.00 | $0.25 | 1.05M | $210.00 | 2026-08-12 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 | DeepSeek | $0.66 | $1.98 | $0.022 | 1.05M | $69.30 | 2026-08-12 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 OpenInference, cheapest of 24 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.0059 | $0.27 | $0.0043 | 1.05M | $4.41 | 2026-07-31 | |
| Qwen3.7 Flash | Alibaba | $0.03 | $0.13 | $0.006 | 1M | $3.75 | 2026-07-27 | |
| Qwen3.7 Plus | Alibaba | $0.32 | $1.28 | $0.064 | 1M | $38.40 | 2026-06-03 | |
| Qwen3.7 Max | Alibaba | $1.48 | $4.42 | $0.295 | 1M | $154.88 | 2026-05-21 | |
| Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Alibaba | $0.30 | $1.80 | 1M | $45.00 | 2026-04-27 | ||
| Qwen3.6 Flash | Alibaba | $0.1875 | $1.12 | 1M | $28.12 | 2026-04-27 | ||
| Qwen3.6 35B A3B Darkbloom, cheapest of 10 hosts | Alibaba | $0.05 | $0.70 | $0.025 | 262K | $13.50 | 2026-04-27 | |
| Qwen3.6 27B | Alibaba | $0.45 | $2.70 | 262K | $67.50 | 2026-04-27 | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423 Parasail, cheapest of 15 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.45 | $3.48 | $0.10 | 1.05M | $79.20 | 2026-04-24 | |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 Wafer, cheapest of 16 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.035 | $0.17 | $0.013 | 1.05M | $4.65 | 2026-04-24 | |
| Qwen3.6 Plus | Alibaba | $0.325 | $1.95 | 1M | $48.75 | 2026-04-02 | ||
| Qwen3.5-9B Darkbloom, cheapest of 6 hosts, retiring 2026-10-21 | Alibaba | $0.08 | $0.13 | $0.04 | 262K | $6.75 | 2026-03-10 | |
| Qwen3.5-35B-A3B | Alibaba | $0.1625 | $1.30 | 262K | $29.25 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5-27B | Alibaba | $0.195 | $1.56 | 262K | $35.10 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5-122B-A10B | Alibaba | $0.26 | $2.08 | 262K | $46.80 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5-Flash | Alibaba | $0.065 | $0.26 | 1M | $7.80 | 2026-02-25 | ||
| Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-02-15 | Alibaba | $0.26 | $1.56 | 1M | $39.00 | 2026-02-16 | ||
| Qwen3.5 397B A17B | Alibaba | $0.39 | $2.34 | 262K | $58.50 | 2026-02-16 | ||
| Qwen3 Coder Next served by Parasail | Alibaba | $0.12 | $0.80 | $0.07 | 262K | $19.20 | 2026-02-04 | |
| DeepSeek V3.2 DeepInfra, cheapest of 12 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.26 | $0.38 | $0.13 | 164K | $21.30 | 2025-12-01 | |
| Qwen3 VL 8B Instruct served by Parasail | Alibaba | $0.25 | $0.75 | $0.12 | 262K | $26.25 | 2025-10-14 | |
| Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking served by SiliconFlow | Alibaba | $0.29 | $1.00 | 262K | $32.40 | 2025-10-06 | ||
| Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Instruct DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.15 | $0.60 | 262K | $18.00 | 2025-10-06 | ||
| DeepSeek V3.2 Exp served by SiliconFlow | DeepSeek | $0.27 | $0.41 | 164K | $22.35 | 2025-09-29 | ||
| Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.20 | $0.88 | $0.11 | 262K | $25.20 | 2025-09-23 | |
| DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus SiliconFlow, cheapest of 2 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.27 | $1.00 | 164K | $31.20 | 2025-09-22 | ||
| Qwen3 Coder Flash | Alibaba | $0.195 | $0.975 | $0.039 | 1M | $26.32 | 2025-09-17 | |
| Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking served by Google | Alibaba | $0.15 | $1.20 | 262K | $27.00 | 2025-09-11 | ||
| Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.09 | $1.10 | 262K | $21.90 | 2025-09-11 | ||
| DeepSeek V3.1 DeepInfra, cheapest of 5 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.25 | $0.95 | $0.13 | 164K | $29.25 | 2025-08-21 | |
| Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B Instruct SiliconFlow, cheapest of 2 hosts | Alibaba | $0.07 | $0.28 | 262K | $8.40 | 2025-07-31 | ||
| Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 DekaLLM, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.09 | $0.30 | 262K | $9.90 | 2025-07-29 | ||
| Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 served by Venice | Alibaba | $0.45 | $3.50 | 128K | $79.50 | 2025-07-25 | ||
| Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.30 | $1.00 | $0.10 | 262K | $33.00 | 2025-07-23 | |
| Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 Venice, cheapest of 6 hosts | Alibaba | $0.15 | $0.75 | 262K | $20.25 | 2025-07-21 | ||
| R1 0528 DeepInfra, cheapest of 4 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.50 | $2.15 | $0.35 | 164K | $62.25 | 2025-05-28 | |
| Qwen3 30B A3B served by DeepInfra | Alibaba | $0.12 | $0.50 | 41K | $14.70 | 2025-04-28 | ||
| Qwen3 14B NextBit, cheapest of 2 hosts | Alibaba | $0.10 | $0.22 | 41K | $9.30 | 2025-04-28 | ||
| Qwen3 32B DeepInfra, cheapest of 3 hosts | Alibaba | $0.08 | $0.28 | 131K | $9.00 | 2025-04-28 | ||
| DeepSeek V3 0324 SiliconFlow, cheapest of 2 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.25 | $1.00 | 164K | $30.00 | 2025-03-24 | ||
| Qwen2.5 VL 72B Instruct served by Parasail | Alibaba | $0.80 | $1.00 | $0.40 | 128K | $63.00 | 2025-02-01 | |
| Qwen-Plus | Alibaba | $0.26 | $0.78 | $0.052 | 1M | $27.30 | 2025-02-01 | |
| R1 served by Novita | DeepSeek | $0.70 | $2.50 | 64K | $79.50 | 2025-01-20 | ||
| DeepSeek V3 StreamLake, cheapest of 2 hosts | DeepSeek | $0.286 | $1.14 | 164K | $34.30 | 2024-12-26 | ||
| Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct served by Cloudflare | Alibaba | $0.66 | $1.00 | 33K | $54.60 | 2024-11-11 | ||
| Qwen2.5 7B Instruct served by Phala | Alibaba | $0.10 | $0.20 | 33K | $9.00 | 2024-10-16 | ||
| Qwen2.5 72B Instruct served by DeepInfra | Alibaba | $0.36 | $0.40 | 33K | $27.60 | 2024-09-19 |
All Qwen prices . All DeepSeek prices . Every provider
Common questions
Is Qwen cheaper than DeepSeek?
On 10 October 2026, the median Qwen model on this list costs $0.1975 per million input tokens and $1.00 per million output tokens, against $0.27 and $1.00 for DeepSeek. By that measure Qwen is cheaper, but compare the specific models you would use, since both providers sell models at very different price points.
What is the cheapest Qwen model compared with the cheapest DeepSeek model?
The cheapest Qwen model is Qwen3.7 Flash at $0.03 in and $0.13 out per million tokens. The cheapest DeepSeek model is DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 at $0.035 in and $0.17 out.
Which has the larger context window, Qwen or DeepSeek?
The largest Qwen context on this list is 1.05M tokens (Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B) and the largest DeepSeek context is 1.05M tokens (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash).
How should I choose between Qwen and DeepSeek for a production agent?
Price per token is one input. Run both on a set of your own real cases, count how often each needs a retry or a human check, and compare the total cost of a correct answer rather than the cost of a token.
Choosing a model for a production agent
Price is one input. Quality on your own cases, latency and the cost of retries decide the rest. Tell me what you are building.