API cost decision in 10 seconds

DeepSeek V3.1 vs Qwen3 Coder Next

Pick Qwen3 Coder Next when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Qwen3 Coder Next when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Coder Next is estimated at $0.51 vs $0.6 for DeepSeek V3.1, saving $0.09 (15.7% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3 Coder Next

Context-first pickQwen3 Coder Next

Sample savings$0.0915.7%

10x traffic gap$0.95

Qwen3 Coder Next is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.95. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Qwen3 Coder Next stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	DeepSeek V3.1	Qwen3 Coder Next
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Qwen3 Coder Next	$1.45	$0.95
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Qwen3 Coder Next	$1	$0.91
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Qwen3 Coder Next	$4.16	$4.11

Cheaper input Qwen3 Coder Next $0.21 vs $0.11 / 1M

Qwen3 Coder Next is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (47.6% lower; 1.91x difference).

Cheaper output DeepSeek V3.1 $0.79 vs $0.8 / 1M

DeepSeek V3.1 is $0.01 cheaper per 1M output tokens (1.3% lower; 1.01x difference).

Larger context Qwen3 Coder Next 163.84K vs 262.14K

Qwen3 Coder Next has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3 Coder Next $0.6 vs $0.51

Qwen3 Coder Next is $0.09 cheaper on the standard workload (15.7% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

DeepSeek V3.1 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Qwen3 Coder Next Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Qwen3 Coder Next has the lower input price; DeepSeek V3.1 has the lower output price; Qwen3 Coder Next offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3 Coder Next is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.6 for DeepSeek V3.1 and $0.51 for Qwen3 Coder Next.

Best Fit

Choose DeepSeek V3.1 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Choose Qwen3 Coder Next when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Coder Next is estimated at $0.51 vs $0.6 for DeepSeek V3.1, saving $0.09 (15.7% lower).
Qwen3 Coder Next is $0.09 cheaper on the standard workload (15.7% lower).
Qwen3 Coder Next is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (47.6% lower; 1.91x difference).
DeepSeek V3.1 is $0.01 cheaper per 1M output tokens (1.3% lower; 1.01x difference).
Qwen3 Coder Next has 98.3K more context (1.6x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	DeepSeek V3.1 (DeepSeek)	Qwen3 Coder Next (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.21	$0.11
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.79	$0.8
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.6	$0.51
Context Window	163.84K	262.14K
Release Date	2025-08-21	2026-02-04
Popularity	#59	#100

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Qwen3 Coder Next	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Coder Next is estimated at $0.51 vs $0.6 for DeepSeek V3.1, saving $0.09 (15.7% lower).
High-volume input processing	Qwen3 Coder Next	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	DeepSeek V3.1	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Qwen3 Coder Next	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace DeepSeek V3.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace DeepSeek V3.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace DeepSeek V3.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
DeepSeek V3.2 can replace DeepSeek V3.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.44.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite offers 1.05M context with $0.3 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

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Qwen catalog

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DeepSeek V3.1

DeepSeek-V3.1 is a large hybrid reasoning model (671B parameters, 37B active) that supports both thinking and non-thinking modes via prompt templates. It extends the DeepSeek-V3 base with a two-phase long-context...

Qwen3 Coder Next

Qwen3-Coder-Next is an open-weight causal language model optimized for coding agents and local development workflows. It uses a sparse MoE design with 80B total parameters and only 3B activated per...