DeepSeek-R1 vs Gemini 3 Flash: which model should you choose?
We compared DeepSeek-R1 and Gemini 3 Flash on price, context window and 12 benchmarks. Gemini 3 Flash has the stronger average benchmark score; DeepSeek-R1 is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis.
DeepSeek-R1
DeepSeek-R1 is a multimodal model from DeepSeek. It offers a 128,000-token context window, costs $5.83 per million input tokens and $25.23 per million output tokens, and averages 82.8 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $5.83 / 1M
- Output
- $25.23 / 1M
- Context
- 128,000
- Avg score
- 82.8
- Open weights
- Yes
Gemini 3 Flash
Gemini 3 Flash is a multimodal model from Google DeepMind. It offers a 128,000-token context window, costs $15.67 per million input tokens and $70.15 per million output tokens, and averages 83.6 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $15.67 / 1M
- Output
- $70.15 / 1M
- Context
- 128,000
- Avg score
- 83.6
- Open weights
- No
Specification comparison
| Spec | DeepSeek-R1 | Gemini 3 Flash | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input price / 1M | $5.83 | $15.67 | A |
| Output price / 1M | $25.23 | $70.15 | A |
| Context window | 128,000 | 128,000 | Tie |
| Max output | 4,096 | 65,536 | B |
| Average score | 82.8 | 83.6 | B |
| Arena Elo | 1454.1 | 1450.7 | A |
| Open weights | Yes | No | A |
Benchmark comparison
DeepSeek-R1 wins 5, Gemini 3 Flash wins 5, and 2 benchmarks are tied. The table shows the modelled score for each model and the gap.
| Benchmark | DeepSeek-R1 | Gemini 3 Flash | Gap | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 83.8 | 83.7 | 0.1 | DeepSeek-R1 |
| GPQA Diamond | 77.8 | 80.3 | 2.5 | Gemini 3 Flash |
| SWE-bench Verified | 72.2 | 72.5 | 0.3 | Gemini 3 Flash |
| HumanEval | 86.4 | 86.2 | 0.2 | DeepSeek-R1 |
| MATH-500 | 89.1 | 89.0 | 0.1 | DeepSeek-R1 |
| AIME 2025 | 81.1 | 84.5 | 3.4 | Gemini 3 Flash |
| LiveCodeBench | 77.4 | 79.3 | 1.9 | Gemini 3 Flash |
| IFEval | 91.0 | 91.0 | 0.0 | Tie |
| TruthfulQA | 82.9 | 84.8 | 1.9 | Gemini 3 Flash |
| HellaSwag | 89.8 | 89.8 | 0.0 | Tie |
| MMMU | 79.5 | 78.2 | 1.3 | DeepSeek-R1 |
| Arena Elo | 1454.1 | 1450.7 | 3.4 | DeepSeek-R1 |
Price analysis
On a blended 3:1 input-to-output basis, DeepSeek-R1 costs about $10.68 per million tokens and Gemini 3 Flash costs about $29.29. DeepSeek-R1 is roughly 64% cheaper than Gemini 3 Flash. At high volume, that gap compounds quickly, so price should carry real weight unless the quality difference is decisive.
Both models list a 128,000-token context window. That is enough for long documents, large codebases and multi-step agent traces.
Verdict
Across 12 shared benchmarks, DeepSeek-R1 wins 5, Gemini 3 Flash wins 5, and 2 are tied. On the index average, Gemini 3 Flash leads DeepSeek-R1 by 0.8 points (83.6 versus 82.8).
The price picture favours DeepSeek-R1. The context picture is effectively a tie. Those two dimensions often matter more than a few benchmark points once a model is good enough for the task.
If you need a single default, start with Gemini 3 Flash for quality-sensitive work and DeepSeek-R1 for high-volume, well-scoped tasks. Run both on a sample of your own traffic before locking in a choice.
Choose DeepSeek-R1 if
- Unit cost matters and you want the cheaper blended price.
- You need open weights for self-hosting or fine-tuning.
Choose Gemini 3 Flash if
- You want the higher average benchmark score in this index.
- You need the larger 65,536-token output limit.
FAQ
Is DeepSeek-R1 better than Gemini 3 Flash?
On the index average, Gemini 3 Flash leads DeepSeek-R1 by 0.8 points (83.6 versus 82.8). The better choice depends on price, context and your task. DeepSeek-R1 wins 5 benchmarks, Gemini 3 Flash wins 5.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-R1 or Gemini 3 Flash?
DeepSeek-R1 is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis at about $10.68 per million tokens, versus $29.29 for Gemini 3 Flash.
Which has the larger context window?
Both models list a 128,000-token context window.
Are these models open weights?
DeepSeek-R1 is open weights; Gemini 3 Flash is proprietary.
Which should I choose for production?
If you need a single default, start with Gemini 3 Flash for quality-sensitive work and DeepSeek-R1 for high-volume, well-scoped tasks. Run both on a sample of your own traffic before locking in a choice.