API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct

Pick Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V4 Pro only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V4 Pro only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is estimated at $0.64 vs $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro, saving $0.23 (26.4% lower).

Cost-first pickQwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
Context-first pickDeepSeek V4 Pro
Sample savings$0.2326.4%
10x traffic gap$2.3

DeepSeek V4 Pro has more context, but Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct saves $0.23 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $2.3. 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 Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct, balanced workload favors Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct, and output-heavy chatbot favors DeepSeek V4 Pro.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickDeepSeek V4 ProQwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputQwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct$2.61$1
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputQwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct$1.3$1.19
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputDeepSeek V4 Pro$4.78$5.59
Cheaper input Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct $0.435 vs $0.09 / 1M

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is $0.34 cheaper per 1M input tokens (79.3% lower; 4.83x difference).

Cheaper output DeepSeek V4 Pro $0.87 vs $1.1 / 1M

DeepSeek V4 Pro is $0.23 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20.9% lower; 1.26x difference).

Larger context DeepSeek V4 Pro 1.05M vs 262.14K

DeepSeek V4 Pro has 786.43K more context (4x larger).

Sample workload Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct $0.87 vs $0.64

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is $0.23 cheaper on the standard workload (26.4% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
DeepSeek V4 Pro Calculating… Estimated API cost
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct 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

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct has the lower input price; DeepSeek V4 Pro has the lower output price; DeepSeek V4 Pro offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro and $0.64 for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct.

Best Fit

Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro when you care most about lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct when you care most about lower input-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is estimated at $0.64 vs $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro, saving $0.23 (26.4% lower).
  • Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is $0.23 cheaper on the standard workload (26.4% lower).
  • Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is $0.34 cheaper per 1M input tokens (79.3% lower; 4.83x difference).
  • DeepSeek V4 Pro is $0.23 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20.9% lower; 1.26x difference).
  • DeepSeek V4 Pro has 786.43K more context (4x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥DeepSeek V4 Pro
(DeepSeek)
Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct
(Qwen)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.435$0.09
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$0.87$1.1
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$0.87$0.64
Context Window1.05M262.14K
Release Date
Popularity#6#79

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionQwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct is estimated at $0.64 vs $0.87 for DeepSeek V4 Pro, saving $0.23 (26.4% lower).
High-volume input processingQwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsDeepSeek V4 ProLower 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

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace DeepSeek V4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace DeepSeek V4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.2.
  • R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace DeepSeek V4 Pro when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
  • DeepSeek V3.2 can replace DeepSeek V4 Pro 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.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

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DeepSeek catalog

Review all tracked DeepSeek models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

Open DeepSeek models

Qwen catalog

Check other Qwen models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open Qwen models
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,...

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Instruct is an instruction-tuned chat model in the Qwen3-Next series optimized for fast, stable responses without “thinking” traces. It targets complex tasks across reasoning, code generation, knowledge QA, and multilingual...