DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct vs Grok 3 Pro: which model should you choose?
We compared DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct and Grok 3 Pro on price, context window and 12 benchmarks. Grok 3 Pro has the stronger average benchmark score; DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis.
DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct
DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct is a frontier model from DeepSeek. It offers a 128,000-token context window, costs $5.91 per million input tokens and $29.01 per million output tokens, and averages 83.7 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $5.91 / 1M
- Output
- $29.01 / 1M
- Context
- 128,000
- Avg score
- 83.7
- Open weights
- Yes
Grok 3 Pro
Grok 3 Pro is a frontier model from xAI. It offers a 400,000-token context window, costs $16.61 per million input tokens and $73.49 per million output tokens, and averages 83.8 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $16.61 / 1M
- Output
- $73.49 / 1M
- Context
- 400,000
- Avg score
- 83.8
- Open weights
- No
Specification comparison
| Spec | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct | Grok 3 Pro | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input price / 1M | $5.91 | $16.61 | A |
| Output price / 1M | $29.01 | $73.49 | A |
| Context window | 128,000 | 400,000 | B |
| Max output | 4,096 | 4,096 | Tie |
| Average score | 83.7 | 83.8 | B |
| Arena Elo | 1454.4 | 1448.4 | A |
| Open weights | Yes | No | A |
Benchmark comparison
DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct wins 6, Grok 3 Pro wins 6, and 0 benchmarks are tied. The table shows the modelled score for each model and the gap.
| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct | Grok 3 Pro | Gap | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 84.6 | 83.5 | 1.1 | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct |
| GPQA Diamond | 80.9 | 81.3 | 0.4 | Grok 3 Pro |
| SWE-bench Verified | 75.2 | 71.4 | 3.8 | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct |
| HumanEval | 90.2 | 89.9 | 0.3 | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct |
| MATH-500 | 86.3 | 87.0 | 0.7 | Grok 3 Pro |
| AIME 2025 | 83.9 | 85.5 | 1.6 | Grok 3 Pro |
| LiveCodeBench | 75.2 | 80.7 | 5.5 | Grok 3 Pro |
| IFEval | 91.3 | 88.6 | 2.7 | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct |
| TruthfulQA | 84.3 | 84.6 | 0.3 | Grok 3 Pro |
| HellaSwag | 88.8 | 90.7 | 1.9 | Grok 3 Pro |
| MMMU | 80.4 | 78.9 | 1.5 | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct |
| Arena Elo | 1454.4 | 1448.4 | 6.0 | DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct |
Price analysis
On a blended 3:1 input-to-output basis, DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct costs about $11.69 per million tokens and Grok 3 Pro costs about $30.83. DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct is roughly 62% cheaper than Grok 3 Pro. At high volume, that gap compounds quickly, so price should carry real weight unless the quality difference is decisive.
Grok 3 Pro has the larger context window at 400,000 tokens, compared with 128,000 for DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct. That matters for long documents, large codebases and multi-step agent traces.
Verdict
Across 12 shared benchmarks, DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct wins 6, Grok 3 Pro wins 6, and 0 are tied. On the index average, Grok 3 Pro leads DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct by 0.1 points (83.8 versus 83.7).
The price picture favours DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct. The context picture favours Grok 3 Pro. 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 Grok 3 Pro for quality-sensitive work and DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct for high-volume, well-scoped tasks. Run both on a sample of your own traffic before locking in a choice.
Choose DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct if
- Unit cost matters and you want the cheaper blended price.
- You need open weights for self-hosting or fine-tuning.
Choose Grok 3 Pro if
- You want the higher average benchmark score in this index.
- You need the larger 400,000-token context window.
FAQ
Is DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct better than Grok 3 Pro?
On the index average, Grok 3 Pro leads DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct by 0.1 points (83.8 versus 83.7). The better choice depends on price, context and your task. DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct wins 6 benchmarks, Grok 3 Pro wins 6.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct or Grok 3 Pro?
DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis at about $11.69 per million tokens, versus $30.83 for Grok 3 Pro.
Which has the larger context window?
Grok 3 Pro has the larger context window at 400,000 tokens. DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct has 128,000 tokens.
Are these models open weights?
DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct is open weights; Grok 3 Pro is proprietary.
Which should I choose for production?
If you need a single default, start with Grok 3 Pro for quality-sensitive work and DeepSeek-V3.2 Instruct for high-volume, well-scoped tasks. Run both on a sample of your own traffic before locking in a choice.