DeepSeek vs Alibaba (Qwen): models, pricing & how they compare

A side-by-side read on DeepSeek and Alibaba (Qwen), anchored on each lab's flagship model, with API pricing, context windows, and their current Vikshy Score. For the full line-ups, see DeepSeek models and Alibaba (Qwen) models.

DeepSeek

70.9Strong contender

Vikshy Score →

DeepSeek-V4-Pro Flagship

Context: 1M
Input /M: $1.74
Output /M: $3.48
Modality: Text
Access: API + open weights

Hard reasoning, long documents and agentic tasks.

Alibaba (Qwen)

68.5Strong contender

Vikshy Score →

Qwen3-Max Flagship

Context: 256K
Input /M: $0.86
Output /M: $3.44
Modality: Text
Access: API

The hardest reasoning and long context workloads on Model Studio.

How they compare

On flagship API input price, Alibaba (Qwen) is cheaper ($0.86 vs $1.74 per million tokens).
DeepSeek offers the larger flagship context window (1M vs 256K).
On the Vikshy Score, DeepSeek ranks higher today (70.9 vs 68.5).

Flagship = each lab's highest-tier current model. Pricing and specs are the labs' listed figures; the Vikshy Score is a daily competitive reading, what is this?

DeepSeek vs Alibaba (Qwen), common questions

Is DeepSeek or Alibaba (Qwen) cheaper?

By flagship API input price, Alibaba (Qwen) is cheaper: $1.74 (DeepSeek) vs $0.86 (Alibaba (Qwen)) per million input tokens.

Which has a larger context window, DeepSeek or Alibaba (Qwen)?

DeepSeek: its flagship handles up to 1M tokens, versus 256K for Alibaba (Qwen).

Which ranks higher on the Vikshy Score, DeepSeek or Alibaba (Qwen)?

DeepSeek, at 70.9 versus 68.5, as of 2026-07-24. The Score moves daily.