API cost decision in 10 seconds

R1 0528 vs Aion-2.0

Pick R1 0528 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T19:08:13Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick R1 0528 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $1.6 for Aion-2.0, saving $0.03 (1.6% lower).

Cost-first pickR1 0528

Context-first pickR1 0528

Sample savings$0.031.6%

10x traffic gap$0.25

R1 0528 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors R1 0528, balanced workload favors Aion-2.0, and output-heavy chatbot favors Aion-2.0.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	R1 0528	Aion-2.0
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	R1 0528	$3.58	$4.8
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Aion-2.0	$2.65	$2.4
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Aion-2.0	$11.25	$8.8

Cheaper input R1 0528 $0.5 vs $0.8 / 1M

R1 0528 is $0.3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (37.5% lower; 1.6x difference).

Cheaper output Aion-2.0 $2.15 vs $1.6 / 1M

Aion-2.0 is $0.55 cheaper per 1M output tokens (25.6% lower; 1.34x difference).

Larger context R1 0528 163.84K vs 131.07K

R1 0528 has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Sample workload R1 0528 $1.57 vs $1.6

R1 0528 is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (1.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

R1 0528 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Aion-2.0 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

R1 0528 has the lower input price; Aion-2.0 has the lower output price; R1 0528 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, R1 0528 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.57 for R1 0528 and $1.6 for Aion-2.0.

Best Fit

Choose R1 0528 when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Aion-2.0 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $1.6 for Aion-2.0, saving $0.03 (1.6% lower).
R1 0528 is $0.03 cheaper on the standard workload (1.6% lower).
R1 0528 is $0.3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (37.5% lower; 1.6x difference).
Aion-2.0 is $0.55 cheaper per 1M output tokens (25.6% lower; 1.34x difference).
R1 0528 has 32.77K more context (1.25x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	R1 0528 (DeepSeek)	Aion-2.0 (AionLabs)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.5	$0.8
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.15	$1.6
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.57	$1.6
Context Window	163.84K	131.07K
Release Date	2025-05-28	2026-02-23
Popularity	#106	#117

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	R1 0528	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $1.6 for Aion-2.0, saving $0.03 (1.6% lower).
High-volume input processing	R1 0528	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Aion-2.0	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	R1 0528	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 R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace R1 0528 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
DeepSeek V3.2 can replace R1 0528 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.
DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 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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AionLabs catalog

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Open AionLabs models

R1 0528

May 28th update to the [original DeepSeek R1](/deepseek/deepseek-r1) Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 671B parameters in size, with 37B active...

Aion-2.0

Aion-2.0 is a variant of DeepSeek V3.2 optimized for immersive roleplaying and storytelling. It is particularly strong at introducing tension, crises, and conflict into stories, making narratives feel more engaging....