deepseek-r1-0528 vs o3-2025-04-16 Benchmark Comparison

Direct benchmark comparison between deepseek-r1-0528 and o3-2025-04-16 based on LMArena Elo and the latest 2026 API pricing.

Direct Technical & Pricing Comparison

Frontier Model	LMArena Elo	API Cost (1M)	Throughput
deepseek-r1-0528	1422	$5e-7	37
o3-2025-04-16	1431	$0.000002	78

*These models represent the Pareto Frontier (optimal cost-to-performance).*

Comparison Summary: These models are highly competitive, with a negligible Elo gap of only 9 points. The choice between them should be driven by specific API features or provider preference. However, neither model is currently Pareto-optimal. Developers looking for peak efficiency should investigate gpt-5.2-chat-latest-20260210, which offers a superior benchmark-to-price ratio.