DeepSeek V3.2 vs GPT-5 Mini

Pricing math on a real workload

Run 10M input tokens and 2M output tokens through each model. DeepSeek V3.2 costs $2.97 total on OpenKey; GPT-5 Mini costs $6.50. That's a 2.2x gap driven almost entirely by output pricing: DeepSeek's completion rate is $0.3432/M from the provider ($0.353496/M on OpenKey after the 3% fee), while GPT-5 Mini's completion rate is $2.00/M ($2.06/M on OpenKey). Input pricing is nearly a wash — DeepSeek at $0.2288/M vs GPT-5 Mini at $0.25/M, a ratio of 0.92. If your workload is output-heavy (long completions, code generation, verbose reasoning traces), DeepSeek's price advantage compounds fast. Both models run through OpenKey with the same key and the same flat 3% fee on top of provider list price, so the comparison above is the real cost difference, not a platform markup difference.

Coding and design benchmarks

Across Design Arena's eight tracked categories, DeepSeek V3.2 ranks better (lower rank number = better) in six: 3d (rank 41 vs 73), codecategories (48 vs 64), dataviz (48 vs 62), gamedev (50 vs 54), uicomponent (47 vs 57), and website (46 vs 62). GPT-5 Mini ranks better in two: asciiart (rank 33 vs 42) and svg (rank 42 vs 54). For general UI, web, and data-viz code generation, DeepSeek V3.2 has the edge. If your work leans toward SVG generation or ASCII-art style output, GPT-5 Mini tests better.

Context and modality

GPT-5 Mini's context window is 400,000 tokens against DeepSeek V3.2's 131,072 — a context ratio of 0.33, meaning DeepSeek holds about a third of GPT-5 Mini's window. GPT-5 Mini also accepts image and file input alongside text, while DeepSeek V3.2 is text-in, text-out only. Max completion length favors GPT-5 Mini too, at 128,000 tokens versus DeepSeek's 64,000. If your task involves ingesting large documents, screenshots, or PDFs, or you need very long single-turn context, GPT-5 Mini is the only one of the two that can do it.

Reasoning and tool use

GPT-5 Mini has mandatory reasoning with four effort levels (high, medium, low, minimal), defaulting to medium — you can't turn reasoning off. DeepSeek V3.2 supports reasoning but doesn't require it (default disabled), so you can run it in a plain fast-completion mode when you don't need chain-of-thought. DeepSeek also exposes a wider parameter set for fine control — top_k, min_p, repetition_penalty, logit_bias, logprobs — where GPT-5 Mini's supported parameter list is narrower and more reasoning-centric. If you want a switch between cheap-and-fast and deliberate reasoning on the same model, DeepSeek gives you that control; GPT-5 Mini's effort levels give you a similar knob but reasoning stays on.

Questions

Which model is cheaper for a typical workload?

DeepSeek V3.2 costs $2.97 for 10M input tokens plus 2M output tokens on OpenKey, versus $6.50 for GPT-5 Mini on the same workload — DeepSeek is roughly 2.2x cheaper, mostly because its output rate is $0.3432/M provider price versus $2.00/M for GPT-5 Mini.

Does DeepSeek V3.2 beat GPT-5 Mini on every benchmark?

No. DeepSeek V3.2 ranks better in 6 of the 8 Design Arena categories (3d, codecategories, dataviz, gamedev, uicomponent, website). GPT-5 Mini ranks better in asciiart (rank 33 vs 42) and svg (rank 42 vs 54).

Which model supports image input?

GPT-5 Mini does — its input modalities include text, image, and file. DeepSeek V3.2 is text-to-text only, so if your pipeline needs to send screenshots or PDFs, GPT-5 Mini is the only option of the two.

How much bigger is GPT-5 Mini's context window?

GPT-5 Mini supports 400,000 tokens of context versus DeepSeek V3.2's 131,072 — a context ratio of 0.33, meaning DeepSeek's window is about a third the size. GPT-5 Mini's max output is also larger at 128,000 tokens versus DeepSeek's 64,000.