DeepSeek V3 vs Llama 3.1 405B
Pricing, context window, and benchmark comparison · Last updated April 2026
DeepSeek V3 is cheaper than Llama 3.1 405B at $0.27/1M/1M vs $2.70/1M/1M input tokens — a 10.0x cost difference. DeepSeek V3 scores higher on quality benchmarks (ELO 1320). Choose DeepSeek V3 for cost-sensitive workloads; both are strong choices depending on your budget.
Which is cheaper: DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B?
DeepSeek V3 is the cheaper option at $0.27/1M per 1M input tokens, compared to $2.70/1M for Llama 3.1 405B. That is a 10.0x cost difference on input tokens. Output pricing follows a similar pattern: DeepSeek V3 charges $1.10/1M/1M vs $2.70/1M/1M for Llama 3.1 405B.
Which has better quality: DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B?
Based on LMSYS Chatbot Arena rankings, DeepSeek V3 achieves a higher ELO score (1320 vs 1267), suggesting stronger performance on open-ended tasks. DeepSeek V3 excels at frontier-level quality at 10x lower cost than gpt-4o. Llama 3.1 405B is known for open source — can be self-hosted for data privacy.
Which should you choose: DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B?
- → Frontier-level quality at 10x lower cost than GPT-4o
- → Open source weights available
- → Excellent coding performance
- → Open source — can be self-hosted for data privacy
- → Competitive with GPT-4o on many benchmarks
- → Strong multilingual capabilities
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper: DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B?
DeepSeek V3 is cheaper at $0.27/1M per 1M input tokens, making it 10.0x more affordable.
Which has better quality: DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B?
DeepSeek V3 scores higher on the LMSYS Chatbot Arena with an ELO of 1320, suggesting better overall quality for most tasks.
Which has a larger context window: DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B?
Both DeepSeek V3 and Llama 3.1 405B have the same context window.
Should I choose DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B?
Choose DeepSeek V3 if cost is the priority. Choose DeepSeek V3 if benchmark quality is most important. Consider your specific use case: DeepSeek V3 is best for coding and low-cost, while Llama 3.1 405B excels at coding and research.
Is DeepSeek V3 or Llama 3.1 405B open source?
DeepSeek V3 is open source. Llama 3.1 405B is open source.