R1 0528 is $1.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (71.4% lower; 3.5x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
R1 0528 vs GPT-5.3 Chat
Pick R1 0528 when budget and context both matter.
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 $8.75 for GPT-5.3 Chat, saving $7.17 (82% lower).
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 $71.75. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
R1 0528 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | R1 0528 | GPT-5.3 Chat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | R1 0528 | $3.58 | $15.75 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | R1 0528 | $2.65 | $15.75 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | R1 0528 | $11.25 | $71.75 |
R1 0528 is $11.85 cheaper per 1M output tokens (84.6% lower; 6.51x difference).
R1 0528 has 35.84K more context (1.28x larger).
R1 0528 is $7.17 cheaper on the standard workload (82% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
R1 0528 has the lower input price; R1 0528 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 $8.75 for GPT-5.3 Chat.
Choose R1 0528 when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
Choose GPT-5.3 Chat when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $8.75 for GPT-5.3 Chat, saving $7.17 (82% lower).
- R1 0528 is $7.17 cheaper on the standard workload (82% lower).
- R1 0528 is $1.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (71.4% lower; 3.5x difference).
- R1 0528 is $11.85 cheaper per 1M output tokens (84.6% lower; 6.51x difference).
- R1 0528 has 35.84K more context (1.28x larger).
| Feature | R1 0528 (DeepSeek) | GPT-5.3 Chat (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.5 | $1.75 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $2.15 | $14 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $1.57 | $8.75 |
| Context Window | 163.84K | 128K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #106 | #113 |
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 $8.75 for GPT-5.3 Chat, saving $7.17 (82% 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 | R1 0528 | 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
- 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.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
- GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
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