DeepSeek V3.2 vs Grok Build 0.1
DeepSeek V3.2 and Grok Build 0.1 sit at opposite ends of the pricing and maturity spectrum. DeepSeek V3.2 (released Dec 2025) is a sparse-attention model tuned for efficient reasoning and tool use, with real Design Arena scores across eight categories. Grok Build 0.1 (released May 2026) is xAI's purpose-built agentic coding model with image input and a 256K context window, but it's newer and ships with no public benchmark results yet. Both run on OpenKey with one API key and a flat 3% fee on top of provider pricing.
Spec vs spec
| Spec | DeepSeek V3.2 | Grok Build 0.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 131K | 256K |
| Max output | 64K | — |
| Input modalities | text | text, image |
| Output modalities | text | text |
| Released | Dec 1, 2025 | May 20, 2026 |
| Reasoning | optional | always on |
Pricing
Per 1M tokens. Provider price plus the flat 3% fee — the sum is what you pay.
deepseek/deepseek-v3.2
Input · 1M tokens
$0.229 + 3%$0.236
Output · 1M tokens
$0.343 + 3%$0.353
Cache read · 1M tokens
$0.023 + 3%$0.024
FEE — FLAT, EVERY MODEL3%
x-ai/grok-build-0.1
Input · 1M tokens
$1.00 + 3%$1.03
Output · 1M tokens
$2.00 + 3%$2.06
Cache read · 1M tokens
$0.200 + 3%$0.206
FEE — FLAT, EVERY MODEL3%
One workload, priced on both
10M input + 2M output tokens at each model's price, flat 3% fee included.
deepseek/deepseek-v3.2Cheaper
$3.06
$2.97 provider + 3%
x-ai/grok-build-0.1
$14.42
$14.00 provider + 3%
Pricing math on a real workload
For a 10M input / 2M output token workload, DeepSeek V3.2 costs **$2.97** total versus **$14.00** for Grok Build 0.1 — a 4.7x gap. On raw input pricing, DeepSeek V3.2 runs $0.2288/M tokens from the provider ($0.235664/M on OpenKey after the 3% fee: 0.2288 × 1.03) against Grok Build 0.1's $1.00/M ($1.03/M on OpenKey: 1.00 × 1.03). Output tokens follow the same pattern: $0.3432/M vs $2.00/M provider-side ($0.353496/M and $2.06/M on OpenKey). DeepSeek V3.2 also offers cache-read pricing at $0.02288/M, roughly a tenth of its own input price — useful for repeated-context agent loops. Grok Build 0.1's cache-read sits at $0.20/M, still a discount but off a much higher base. If your workload is high-volume (batch coding tasks, CI agents running constantly), the cost delta compounds fast.
Context window and modality
Grok Build 0.1 supports a 256,000-token context window versus DeepSeek V3.2's 131,072 — nearly double, a context ratio of 0.51 (DeepSeek's window is 51% the size of Grok's). That matters if you're feeding entire repos or long conversation histories into a single call. Grok Build 0.1 also accepts image input alongside text, while DeepSeek V3.2 is text-only in and out. DeepSeek V3.2 does specify a max completion length of 64,000 tokens; Grok Build 0.1's max output isn't published. If your use case involves screenshots, diagrams, or UI mockups as part of a coding task, Grok Build 0.1 is the only one of the two that can ingest them directly.
Benchmark data: one has it, one doesn't
DeepSeek V3.2 has published Design Arena rankings across eight categories: website generation (rank 46, elo 1217), 3D (rank 41, elo 1210), code categories (rank 48, elo 1213), data visualization (rank 48, elo 1203), UI components (rank 47, elo 1203), game dev (rank 50, elo 1197), ASCII art (rank 42, elo 1129), and SVG (rank 54, elo 1089). Grok Build 0.1 has no benchmark data in this dataset. That doesn't mean it performs worse — it's a newer, narrower model built specifically for agentic coding — but you're evaluating it on marketing description alone right now, not measured results. If benchmark evidence matters to your decision, DeepSeek V3.2 is the only one you can currently verify.
Reasoning behavior and parameters
Grok Build 0.1 has **mandatory** reasoning — every request runs through its reasoning process, no toggle to disable it. DeepSeek V3.2 makes reasoning optional and off by default, giving you a lever to cut latency and cost on tasks that don't need deep chain-of-thought. Parameter support differs too: DeepSeek V3.2 exposes 19 parameters including `top_k`, `min_p`, and `logit_bias` for fine-grained sampling control; Grok Build 0.1 exposes 14, dropping those three plus `repetition_penalty`. If you're building tooling that depends on precise sampling control or need to switch reasoning on and off per-request to manage cost, DeepSeek V3.2's parameter surface gives you more to work with.
Which model for which job
| Use case | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| High-volume CI/agent coding loops | DeepSeek V3.2 | 4.7x cheaper per the 10M in / 2M out workload comparison ($2.97 vs $14.00) |
| Coding tasks with screenshots or UI mockups | Grok Build 0.1 | Only one with image input support (text+image->text modality) |
| Very large repo or long-context ingestion | Grok Build 0.1 | 256,000 token context window vs 131,072 for DeepSeek V3.2 |
| Cost-sensitive repeated-context agent calls | DeepSeek V3.2 | Cache-read pricing of $0.02288/M is roughly a tenth of its own input price |
| Decisions requiring published benchmark evidence | DeepSeek V3.2 | Has Design Arena rankings across 8 categories; Grok Build 0.1 has none in this dataset |
| Low-latency tasks that don't need deep reasoning | DeepSeek V3.2 | Reasoning is optional and off by default; Grok Build 0.1 makes reasoning mandatory on every call |
Questions
- How much cheaper is DeepSeek V3.2 than Grok Build 0.1?
- On a 10M input / 2M output token workload, DeepSeek V3.2 costs $2.97 total versus $14.00 for Grok Build 0.1 — roughly 4.7x less. The gap comes mostly from input pricing: $0.2288/M for DeepSeek V3.2 versus $1.00/M provider-side for Grok Build 0.1.
- Which model has a bigger context window?
- Grok Build 0.1 supports 256,000 tokens of context versus 131,072 for DeepSeek V3.2 — DeepSeek's window is about 51% the size of Grok's (context ratio 0.51). If you're working with very long documents or full codebases in a single call, Grok Build 0.1 has more room.
- Can either model take image input?
- Yes, Grok Build 0.1 accepts text and image input (text+image->text modality) and outputs text. DeepSeek V3.2 is text-only on both input and output. If your workflow involves screenshots or diagrams, Grok Build 0.1 is the only option of the two.
- Does DeepSeek V3.2 have published benchmark scores?
- Yes — DeepSeek V3.2 has Design Arena rankings across 8 categories, including website generation (elo 1217, rank 46) and code categories (elo 1213, rank 48). Grok Build 0.1 has no benchmark data available in this comparison, since it's a newer release (May 2026).