API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥DeepSeek V3.2 vs 🔥DeepSeek V4 Pro

Pick DeepSeek V3.2 for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V4 Pro only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick DeepSeek V3.2 for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V4 Pro only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro, saving $0.43 (49.3% lower).

Cost-first pickDeepSeek V3.2
Context-first pickDeepSeek V4 Pro
Sample savings$0.4349.3%
10x traffic gap$4.29

DeepSeek V4 Pro has more context, but DeepSeek V3.2 saves $0.43 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $4.29. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cheaper input DeepSeek V3.2 $0.252 vs $0.435 / 1M

DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.18 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.1% lower; 1.73x difference).

Cheaper output DeepSeek V3.2 $0.378 vs $0.87 / 1M

DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.49 cheaper per 1M output tokens (56.6% lower; 2.3x difference).

Larger context DeepSeek V4 Pro 131.07K vs 1.05M

DeepSeek V4 Pro has 917.5K more context (8x larger).

Sample workload DeepSeek V3.2 $0.44 vs $0.87

DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.43 cheaper on the standard workload (49.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
DeepSeek V3.2 Calculating… Estimated API cost
DeepSeek V4 Pro 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

DeepSeek V3.2 has the lower input price; DeepSeek V3.2 has the lower output price; DeepSeek V4 Pro offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, DeepSeek V3.2 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.44 for DeepSeek V3.2 and $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro.

Best Fit

Choose DeepSeek V3.2 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro, saving $0.43 (49.3% lower).
  • DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.43 cheaper on the standard workload (49.3% lower).
  • DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.18 cheaper per 1M input tokens (42.1% lower; 1.73x difference).
  • DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.49 cheaper per 1M output tokens (56.6% lower; 2.3x difference).
  • DeepSeek V4 Pro has 917.5K more context (8x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥DeepSeek V3.2
(DeepSeek)
🔥DeepSeek V4 Pro
(DeepSeek)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.252$0.435
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$0.378$0.87
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$0.44$0.87
Context Window131.07K1.05M
Release Date2025-12-012026-04-24
Popularity Rank
current rank
#7#8

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionDeepSeek V3.2On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro, saving $0.43 (49.3% lower).
High-volume input processingDeepSeek V3.2Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsDeepSeek V3.2Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workDeepSeek V4 ProA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

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DeepSeek V3.2

DeepSeek-V3.2 is a large language model designed to harmonize high computational efficiency with strong reasoning and agentic tool-use performance. It introduces DeepSeek Sparse Attention (DSA), a fine-grained sparse attention mechanism...

DeepSeek V4 Pro

DeepSeek V4 Pro is a large-scale Mixture-of-Experts model from DeepSeek with 1.6T total parameters and 49B activated parameters, supporting a 1M-token context window. It is designed for advanced reasoning, coding,...