reasoning
Deepseek Reasoner vs Grok 3
Side-by-side pricing, context window, features, and per-use-case verdict. Data sourced from LiteLLM, updated regularly.
Specifications
| Feature | Deepseek Reasoner | Grok 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | deepseek | xai |
| Model ID | deepseek/deepseek-reasoner | xai/grok-3 |
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.28 (91% cheaper) | $3.00 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $0.42 (97% cheaper) | $15.00 |
| Cached input / 1M | $0.03 | $0.75 |
| Context window | 131kk tokens | 131kk tokens |
| Max output | 66kk tokens | 131kk tokens |
| Vision | ⬜ | ⬜ |
| Function calling | ⬜ | ✅ |
| Prompt caching | ✅ | ✅ |
| Web search | ⬜ | ✅ |
| JSON schema | ✅ | ⬜ |
Monthly cost comparison
No cache discount applied — pure token costs at three usage scales.
| Scale | Deepseek Reasoner | Grok 3 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 1M in / 0.2M out | $0.36 | $6.00 | Deepseek Reasoner saves 94% |
| Medium 10M in / 2M out | $3.64 | $60.00 | Deepseek Reasoner saves 94% |
| Large 100M in / 20M out | $36.40 | $600 | Deepseek Reasoner saves 94% |
Category winners
Cheapest input
Deepseek Reasoner
$0.28/M
· 91% less than the other
Cheapest output
Deepseek Reasoner
$0.42/M
· 97% less than the other
Larger context
Deepseek Reasoner
131kk tokens
More features
Grok 3
3 / 5 capabilities
Better for…
High-volume RAG & repeated context
$0.03/M cached input — prompt caching makes repeated context retrieval significantly cheaper
Deepseek Reasoner
Short interactions & high-throughput APIs
$0.42/M output — 97% cheaper on output at scale
Deepseek Reasoner
Agentic workflows & tool use
Supports 3 of 5 tracked capabilities (vision, function calling, caching, web search, JSON schema)
Grok 3
Cost-sensitive production at scale
$36.40/month at 100M-token scale — 94% cheaper than the alternative
Deepseek Reasoner
Deep-dive on each model
Pricing data sourced from LiteLLM and refreshed regularly. Always verify with each provider's official pricing page before making business decisions.