API cost decision in 10 seconds

R1 0528 vs o3 Mini

Pick R1 0528 for lower cost; pick o3 Mini only if the larger context window matters more.

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 R1 0528 for lower cost; pick o3 Mini only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $3.3 for o3 Mini, saving $1.73 (52.3% lower).

Cost-first pickR1 0528

Context-first picko3 Mini

Sample savings$1.7352.3%

10x traffic gap$17.25

o3 Mini has more context, but R1 0528 saves $1.73 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $17.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

R1 0528 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	R1 0528	o3 Mini
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	R1 0528	$3.58	$7.7
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	R1 0528	$2.65	$5.5
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	R1 0528	$11.25	$23.1

Cheaper input R1 0528 $0.5 vs $1.1 / 1M

R1 0528 is $0.6 cheaper per 1M input tokens (54.5% lower; 2.2x difference).

Cheaper output R1 0528 $2.15 vs $4.4 / 1M

R1 0528 is $2.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (51.1% lower; 2.05x difference).

Larger context o3 Mini 163.84K vs 200K

o3 Mini has 36.16K more context (1.22x larger).

Sample workload R1 0528 $1.57 vs $3.3

R1 0528 is $1.73 cheaper on the standard workload (52.3% 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

o3 Mini 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; R1 0528 has the lower output price; o3 Mini 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 $3.3 for o3 Mini.

Best Fit

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

Choose o3 Mini when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, R1 0528 is estimated at $1.57 vs $3.3 for o3 Mini, saving $1.73 (52.3% lower).
R1 0528 is $1.73 cheaper on the standard workload (52.3% lower).
R1 0528 is $0.6 cheaper per 1M input tokens (54.5% lower; 2.2x difference).
R1 0528 is $2.25 cheaper per 1M output tokens (51.1% lower; 2.05x difference).
o3 Mini has 36.16K more context (1.22x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	R1 0528 (DeepSeek)	o3 Mini (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.5	$1.1
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.15	$4.4
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.57	$3.3
Context Window	163.84K	200K
Release Date	2025-05-28	2025-01-31
Popularity	#106	#120

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 $3.3 for o3 Mini, saving $1.73 (52.3% 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	o3 Mini	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.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 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.

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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Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

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OpenAI catalog

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R1 0528

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o3 Mini

OpenAI o3-mini is a cost-efficient language model optimized for STEM reasoning tasks, particularly excelling in science, mathematics, and coding. This model supports the `reasoning_effort` parameter, which can be set to...