CompareLLM
CompareLLM.ai
Live
Leaderboard
Models
Compare
Best of & Stacks
Research & News
…
CompareLLM
CompareLLM.ai
Precision Benchmarks

Programmatic, dated AI model benchmarks, head-to-head comparisons, and Stack Engine presets.

Daily ingest · 06:00 UTC

Analytics & Benchmarks

  • AI Model Leaderboard
  • Head-to-Head Compare Hub
  • Models Directory
  • Stack Engine Presets
  • Frontier Models
  • Open Weights Catalog

Guides & Intent Lists

  • Best LLM Lists (2026)
  • Best Coding LLM
  • Best Cheap LLM
  • Fastest Low-Latency LLM
  • Claude vs GPT Benchmark
  • What is Elo?
  • Methodology Guides
  • News & Dispatches

Transparency & API

  • Evaluation Methodology
  • Benchmark Changelog
  • Public JSON API
  • llms.txt Specification
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign In / Account

© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

Theme:
Currency:
  1. Home
  2. Comparisons
  3. DeepSeek R1 vs GPT-4o

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026

DeepSeek R1 vs GPT-4o benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, DeepSeek R1 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,358 vs 1,335), while DeepSeek R1 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (65.2%), while DeepSeek R1 is more budget-friendly at $2.19/1M per 1M output tokens, while GPT-4o provides faster response streaming (110 tok/s). Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: DeepSeek R1 holds the advantage over GPT-4o in overall benchmark performance and human evaluation rankings. Choose DeepSeek R1 for demanding workloads, or review the breakdown below to compare coding and pricing metrics.
Share Analysis:
WhatsAppTelegramXLinkedInReddit

Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

8 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

DeepSeek R1 (6)GPT-4o (2)
DeepSeek R1
6 of 8 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond✓Input price✓Output price
GPT-4o
2 of 8 Wins
✓Time to first token✓Output speed
DeepSeek
Leads 6 of 8 metrics
DeepSeek R1

Open-weights reasoning model trained with large-scale RL.

Elo 1,358$2.19/1M out
OpenAI
Leads 2 of 8 metrics
GPT-4o

Previous OpenAI flagship. Still a common compare baseline on legacy pages.

Elo 1,335$10/1M out

DeepSeek R1 Thinking Depth & Cost Scaler

Model A

Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost

Mode: Medium (Full RL CoT)

Reasoning models “think before answering” by generating internal reasoning tokens. Higher effort improves math, coding, and logic accuracy, but increases response delay and token costs.

Thinking Delay
420 ms
Standard speed
Reasoning Depth
~2,800
Internal tokens
Cost / 1k Calls
$7.06
7.6× standard bill
Accuracy Boost
+6.5% accuracy
STEM & SWE-bench
Top Rival Showdowns for DeepSeek R1
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs GPT-5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs Qwen 3 Max
Preference LeaderDeepSeek R1 Wins

DeepSeek R1

Δ 23 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderGPT-4o Wins

GPT-4o

110 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderDeepSeek R1 Wins

DeepSeek R1

$2.19 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

DeepSeek R1 (6)vsGPT-4o (2)
DeepSeek R1: 6W (75%)Overall: DeepSeek R1GPT-4o: 2W (25%)
← DeepSeek R11 tiesGPT-4o →
🏆DeepSeek R1(4/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Benchmark
DeepSeek R1vsGPT-4o
Preference Elo
1,358vs1,335+23
Coding Elo
—vs—
SWE-bench
65.2%vs54.8%+10.4%
LiveBench
59%vs54.2%+4.8%
GPQA Diamond
79.8%vs73.2%+6.6%
DeepSeek R1: 4WGPT-4o: 0W
🏆GPT-4o(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
DeepSeek R1vsGPT-4o
Output speed
62 tok/svs110 tok/s+48 tok/s
Time to first token
420 msvs180 ms+240 ms
DeepSeek R1: 0WGPT-4o: 2W
🏆DeepSeek R1(2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
DeepSeek R1vsGPT-4o
Output price
$2.19/1Mvs$10/1M+$7.81/1M
Input price
$0.55/1Mvs$2.5/1M+$1.95/1M
Context window
128kvs128k
DeepSeek R1: 2WGPT-4o: 0W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+23
DeepSeek R11,358
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o1,335
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
LiveBench+4.8%
DeepSeek R159%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o54.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
SWE-bench+10.4%
DeepSeek R165.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o54.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPQA Diamond+6.6%
DeepSeek R179.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o73.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+240 ms
DeepSeek R1420 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o180 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+48 tok/s
DeepSeek R162 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o110 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price+$1.95/1M
DeepSeek R1$0.55/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o$2.5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output price+$7.81/1M
DeepSeek R1$2.19/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o$10/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Context window
DeepSeek R1128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPT-4o128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
BenchmarkDeepSeek R1GPT-4oAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,358
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
1,335
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+23
LiveBench
59%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
54.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+4.8%
SWE-bench
65.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
54.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+10.4%
GPQA Diamond
79.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
73.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+6.6%
Time to first token
420 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
180 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+240 ms
Output speed
62 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
110 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+48 tok/s
Input price
$0.55/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$2.5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$1.95/1M
Output price
$2.19/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$10/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$7.81/1M
Context window
128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
128k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
—
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 78% with DeepSeek R1
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
DeepSeek R1$52.10 / mo
In: $19.25Out: $32.85
GPT-4o$237.50 / mo
In: $87.5Out: $150
Estimated Cost Delta

DeepSeek R1 is estimated to save $185.40/month ($2,225/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    DeepSeek R1:Pick DeepSeek R1 when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    GPT-4o:Pick GPT-4o when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.
  • 3
    DeepSeek R1:Pick DeepSeek R1 as the default general assistant.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsDeepSeek R1

Higher SWE-bench (65.2%).

High-volume chatDeepSeek R1

Lower output list price ($2.19/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGPT-4o

Lower TTFT (180 ms).

Long-document RAGDeepSeek R1

Larger window (128k).

Screenshots / visionGPT-4o

GPT-4o is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsDeepSeek R1Higher SWE-bench (65.2%).
High-volume chatDeepSeek R1Lower output list price ($2.19/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIGPT-4oLower TTFT (180 ms).
Long-document RAGDeepSeek R1Larger window (128k).
Screenshots / visionGPT-4oGPT-4o is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
launchJan 20, 2025

DeepSeek R1 stays as the open-weights RL baseline

Jan 2025 reasoning model. Still searched. V4 Pro is the newer DeepSeek buy.

newsMay 13, 2024

GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Deprecated for buying. Kept because “4o vs sonnet” is still a typed query.

Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

0 total votes

Community Discussions (0)

Sign in to cast your verified vote, bookmark models, and participate in benchmark discussions.Sign In to Post

No comments posted on this matchup yet. Be the first to share an evaluation note!

Social Share Card Preview

Dynamic OpenGraph banner generated at /compare/deepseek-r1-vs-gpt-4o/opengraph-image

Save PNG

CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
DeepSeek

DeepSeek R1

Elo 1,358
SWE-bench65.2%
Speed (tok/s)62 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.55/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$2.19/1M
OpenAI

GPT-4o

Elo 1,335
SWE-bench54.8%
Speed (tok/s)110 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$2.5/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$10/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?
DeepSeek R1 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,358). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?
DeepSeek R1 leads SWE-bench at 65.2% vs 54.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
DeepSeek R1 output tokens are $2.19/1M versus $10/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-4o?
GPT-4o has the lower time-to-first-token (180 ms vs 420 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
DeepSeek R1 accepts 128k tokens versus 128k.
Can I self-host either model?
DeepSeek R1 is marked open-weights in our catalog. The other side is a closed API. Check the provider license before you ship weights.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. DeepSeek R1 and GPT-4o Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • launch · Jan 20, 2025

    DeepSeek R1 stays as the open-weights RL baseline

  • news · May 13, 2024

    GPT-4o stays as the 2024 compare anchor people still search

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All DeepSeek R1 matchups →|All GPT-4o matchups →
DeepSeek R1 vs DeepSeek V3 (previous deepseek)DeepSeek R1 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro (next deepseek)GPT-4o vs GPT-4 Turbo (previous gpt-flagship)GPT-4o vs OpenAI o1 (next gpt-flagship)DeepSeek V4 Flash vs DeepSeek R1GPT-5 vs DeepSeek R1