DeepSeek vs Nebius AI: Token Pricing, Speed & Intelligence

Full comparison of DeepSeek and Nebius AI — live token pricing, latency, throughput, context window, strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases. Updated July 2026.

DeepSeek

Chinese frontier lab — DeepSeek V3 and R1 at remarkably low prices

DeepSeek is a Chinese AI lab that has released highly capable open-weight models at prices far below Western competitors. DeepSeek V3 matches GPT-4 class performance at $0.27/1M input tokens, while DeepSeek R1 is a reasoning model competitive with o1 at a fraction of the cost. Both models are open-weight.

Cost-efficiencyReasoningCodingOpen-sourceSelf-hosting

Proprietary models

Nebius AI

European cloud AI — affordable open-source inference from ex-Yandex team

Nebius AI is a European cloud provider built by the team behind Yandex Cloud, offering GPU compute and LLM inference services. Their inference API hosts Llama and other open-weight models at competitive prices, with data centres in Europe for GDPR-compliant deployments.

European complianceGDPROpen-sourceCost-efficiencyGPU compute

Open-weight hostHosts open weights

Key metrics

Cheapest input ($/1M)

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Cheapest output ($/1M)

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Peak throughput

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Best latency (TTFT)

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Intelligence score

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Context window

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Live token pricing

Strengths & weaknesses

DeepSeek

DeepSeek V3 matches GPT-4 class at $0.27/1M input — 10× cheaper

R1 reasoning model competitive with o1 at a fraction of the cost

Both V3 and R1 are open-weight — can be self-hosted

Mixture-of-Experts architecture for efficient inference

Strong coding and math benchmarks

Data residency in China — may not meet compliance requirements

API reliability can lag Western providers during peak demand

Limited multimodal capability vs. Gemini or GPT-4o

Nebius AI

European data centres — GDPR-compliant by default

Competitive pricing on open-weight models

GPU compute + LLM inference from one provider

Built by experienced Yandex Cloud engineering team

OpenAI-compatible API

Smaller ecosystem than US-based providers

Limited model selection vs. Together AI

Less established brand recognition

Key differentiators

DeepSeek

DeepSeek V3 delivers GPT-4 class intelligence at $0.27/1M input tokens — the most disruptive price-to-performance ratio in the LLM market.

Nebius AI

European-native infrastructure with GDPR-compliant LLM inference and GPU compute from the same provider — ideal for EU businesses.

Frequently asked questions

DeepSeek FAQs

How much does DeepSeek cost?

DeepSeek V3 costs $0.27/1M input and $1.10/1M output tokens — roughly 10× cheaper than GPT-4o for comparable capability. DeepSeek R1 is $0.55/1M input and $2.19/1M output.

Is DeepSeek open-weight?

Yes. Both DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek R1 are open-weight models available on Hugging Face. You can self-host them on your own GPU infrastructure, though they require significant compute (671B parameters for R1).

How does DeepSeek R1 compare to OpenAI o1?

DeepSeek R1 scores comparably to OpenAI o1 on math and coding benchmarks at a fraction of the cost. R1 is open-weight and can be self-hosted, while o1 is proprietary. R1 is available via multiple inference providers including Fireworks AI and Together AI.

Nebius AI FAQs

Is Nebius AI GDPR-compliant?

Yes. Nebius AI operates data centres in Europe (Amsterdam and other EU locations), making it a strong choice for European businesses with GDPR data residency requirements.

What models does Nebius AI offer?

Nebius AI hosts Llama 3.x and other popular open-weight models via their inference API. They also offer GPU compute for self-hosted model deployment.

Who built Nebius AI?

Nebius AI was founded by the team behind Yandex Cloud, one of Europe's largest cloud providers. They bring significant cloud infrastructure experience to the AI inference market.

Provider resources

DeepSeek

Provider page Website Pricing Docs

Nebius AI

Provider page Website Pricing Docs

DeepSeek — Chinese frontier lab — DeepSeek V3 and R1 at remarkably low prices

DeepSeek V3 delivers GPT-4 class intelligence at $0.27/1M input tokens — the most disruptive price-to-performance ratio in the LLM market.

Nebius AI — European cloud AI — affordable open-source inference from ex-Yandex team

European-native infrastructure with GDPR-compliant LLM inference and GPU compute from the same provider — ideal for EU businesses.

Key strengths compared

DeepSeek

▸DeepSeek V3 matches GPT-4 class at $0.27/1M input — 10× cheaper
▸R1 reasoning model competitive with o1 at a fraction of the cost
▸Both V3 and R1 are open-weight — can be self-hosted

Nebius AI

▸European data centres — GDPR-compliant by default
▸Competitive pricing on open-weight models
▸GPU compute + LLM inference from one provider

Provider category context

DeepSeek is a frontier lab, founded in 2023. Nebius AI is a inference api, founded in 2023. DeepSeek as a frontier lab trains and serves its own proprietary models. Nebius AI as an inference API provider hosts open-weight models — typically offering lower prices for equivalent capability tiers but without access to proprietary frontier models.

How to choose between them

Choose DeepSeek if you need deepseek v3 matches gpt-4 class at $0.27/1m input — 10× cheaper. Choose Nebius AI if you need european data centres — gdpr-compliant by default. For high-volume production workloads, run a cost comparison using the token pricing table above with your actual prompt/completion token ratio — the cheapest provider depends heavily on your input-to-output token ratio.