API cost decision in 10 seconds

Relace Search vs DeepSeek V3.2

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

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-26T11:08:00Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick DeepSeek V3.2 for lower cost; pick Relace Search 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 $2.5 for Relace Search, saving $2.06 (82.4% lower).

Cost-first pickDeepSeek V3.2

Context-first pickRelace Search

Sample savings$2.0682.4%

10x traffic gap$20.59

Relace Search has more context, but DeepSeek V3.2 saves $2.06 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $20.59. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

DeepSeek V3.2 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Relace Search	DeepSeek V3.2
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	DeepSeek V3.2	$6.5	$1.45
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	DeepSeek V3.2	$4	$0.63
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	DeepSeek V3.2	$16	$2.14

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

DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.75 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74.8% lower; 3.97x difference).

Cheaper output DeepSeek V3.2 $3 vs $0.378 / 1M

DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.62 cheaper per 1M output tokens (87.4% lower; 7.94x difference).

Larger context Relace Search 256K vs 131.07K

Relace Search has 124.93K more context (1.95x larger).

Sample workload DeepSeek V3.2 $2.5 vs $0.44

DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.06 cheaper on the standard workload (82.4% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Relace Search Calculating… Estimated API cost

DeepSeek V3.2 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; Relace Search 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 $2.5 for Relace Search and $0.44 for DeepSeek V3.2.

Best Fit

Choose Relace Search when you care most about larger context window.

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

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $2.5 for Relace Search, saving $2.06 (82.4% lower).
DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.06 cheaper on the standard workload (82.4% lower).
DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.75 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74.8% lower; 3.97x difference).
DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.62 cheaper per 1M output tokens (87.4% lower; 7.94x difference).
Relace Search has 124.93K more context (1.95x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	Relace Search (Relace)	DeepSeek V3.2 (DeepSeek)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1	$0.252
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$3	$0.378
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.5	$0.44
Context Window	256K	131.07K
Release Date	2025-12-08	2025-12-01

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	DeepSeek V3.2	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $2.5 for Relace Search, saving $2.06 (82.4% lower).
High-volume input processing	DeepSeek V3.2	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	Relace Search	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Relace Apply 3 can replace Relace Search when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.48.
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.

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.
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite offers 1.05M context with $1 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

No popular competitor is currently available.

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

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

Relace catalog

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

Open Relace models

DeepSeek catalog

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

Open DeepSeek models

Relace Search

The relace-search model uses 4-12 `view_file` and `grep` tools in parallel to explore a codebase and return relevant files to the user request. In contrast to RAG, relace-search performs agentic...

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...