API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥DeepSeek V3.2 vs GPT-5 Nano

Pick GPT-5 Nano when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T20:08:05Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick GPT-5 Nano when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Nano is estimated at $0.25 vs $0.44 for DeepSeek V3.2, saving $0.19 (43.3% lower).

Cost-first pickGPT-5 Nano

Context-first pickGPT-5 Nano

Sample savings$0.1943.3%

10x traffic gap$1.91

GPT-5 Nano is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.91. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

GPT-5 Nano stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	DeepSeek V3.2	GPT-5 Nano
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	GPT-5 Nano	$1.45	$0.45
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	GPT-5 Nano	$0.63	$0.45
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	GPT-5 Nano	$2.14	$2.05

Cheaper input GPT-5 Nano $0.252 vs $0.05 / 1M

GPT-5 Nano is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80.2% lower; 5.04x difference).

Cheaper output DeepSeek V3.2 $0.378 vs $0.4 / 1M

DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.02 cheaper per 1M output tokens (5.5% lower; 1.06x difference).

Larger context GPT-5 Nano 131.07K vs 400K

GPT-5 Nano has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).

Sample workload GPT-5 Nano $0.44 vs $0.25

GPT-5 Nano is $0.19 cheaper on the standard workload (43.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

DeepSeek V3.2 Calculating… Estimated API cost

GPT-5 Nano 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

GPT-5 Nano has the lower input price; DeepSeek V3.2 has the lower output price; GPT-5 Nano offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, GPT-5 Nano 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 $0.25 for GPT-5 Nano.

Best Fit

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

Choose GPT-5 Nano when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Nano is estimated at $0.25 vs $0.44 for DeepSeek V3.2, saving $0.19 (43.3% lower).
GPT-5 Nano is $0.19 cheaper on the standard workload (43.3% lower).
GPT-5 Nano is $0.2 cheaper per 1M input tokens (80.2% lower; 5.04x difference).
DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.02 cheaper per 1M output tokens (5.5% lower; 1.06x difference).
GPT-5 Nano has 268.93K more context (3.05x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	🔥DeepSeek V3.2 (DeepSeek)	GPT-5 Nano (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.252	$0.05
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.378	$0.4
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.44	$0.25
Context Window	131.07K	400K
Release Date	2025-12-01	2025-08-07
Popularity	#8	#68

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	GPT-5 Nano	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GPT-5 Nano is estimated at $0.25 vs $0.44 for DeepSeek V3.2, saving $0.19 (43.3% lower).
High-volume input processing	GPT-5 Nano	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	DeepSeek V3.2	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GPT-5 Nano	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 V3.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace DeepSeek V3.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace DeepSeek V3.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5 Nano when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

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

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DeepSeek catalog

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OpenAI catalog

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