DeepSeek (13 models) vs NVIDIA (9 models) - compared across composite scores, pricing, capabilities, and context windows.
| Capability | DeepSeek | NVIDIA | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
Vision | 0/13 | 2/9 | NVIDIA |
Reasoning | 11/13 | 9/9 | DeepSeek |
Function Calling | 10/13 | 9/9 | DeepSeek |
JSON Mode | 12/13 | 6/9 | DeepSeek |
Web Search | 0/13 | 0/9 | Tie |
Streaming | 13/13 | 9/9 | DeepSeek |
Image Output | 0/13 | 0/9 | Tie |
| Metric | DeepSeek | NVIDIA |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest Input (per 1M tokens) | $0.140 DeepSeek V4 Flash | $0.040 Nemotron Nano 9B V2 |
| Cheapest Output (per 1M tokens) | $0.280 | $0.160 |
| Most Expensive Input (per 1M tokens) | $0.700 R1 | $0.100 Nemotron 3 Super |
| Most Expensive Output (per 1M tokens) | $2.50 | $0.450 |
| Free Models | 0 | 5 |
| Max Context Window | 1.0M | 262K |
| Model | Score | Input $/M | Output $/M |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 0528 | 79 | $0.500 | $2.15 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | 76 | $0.435 | $0.870 |
| R1 | 73 | $0.700 | $2.50 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 72 | $0.140 | $0.280 |
| DeepSeek V3 0324 | 72 | $0.200 | $0.770 |
| DeepSeek V3.2 | 70 | $0.252 | $0.378 |
| DeepSeek V3.2 Exp | 70 | $0.270 | $0.410 |
| DeepSeek V3 | 70 | $0.320 | $0.890 |
| DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | 69 | $0.270 | $0.950 |
| DeepSeek V3.1 | 69 | $0.150 | $0.750 |
| R1 Distill Llama 70B | 42 | $0.700 | $0.800 |
| DeepSeek V3.2 Speciale | 40 | $0.287 | $0.431 |
| R1 Distill Qwen 32B | 37 | $0.290 | $0.290 |
| Model | Score | Input $/M | Output $/M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Llama 3.3 Nemotron Super 49B V1.5 | 61 | $0.100 | $0.400 |
| Nemotron 3 Nano Omni (free) | 40 | Free | Free |
| Nemotron 3 Super (free) | 40 | Free | Free |
| Nemotron 3 Super | 40 | $0.090 | $0.450 |
| Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B (free) | 40 | Free | Free |
| Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B | 40 | $0.050 | $0.200 |
| Nemotron Nano 12B 2 VL (free) | 40 | Free | Free |
| Nemotron Nano 9B V2 (free) | 40 | Free | Free |
| Nemotron Nano 9B V2 | 40 | $0.040 | $0.160 |
Compare any two AI providers side-by-side.
DeepSeek's pricing reflects a premium-only strategy with no free tier, while NVIDIA offers 4 free models (36% of portfolio) to capture developers early. DeepSeek V3.2 Exp at 46/100 marginally outperforms NVIDIA's best Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3B at 45/100, but costs 61% more per million tokens ($2.50 vs $1.80).
NVIDIA's 60% larger context window enables processing of longer documents and codebases in single passes, critical for enterprise RAG applications. However, both providers lack vision capabilities across most models - NVIDIA offers it in only 2/11 models (18%) while DeepSeek has zero vision-enabled models.
NVIDIA edges out DeepSeek with function calling in 9/11 models (82%) versus DeepSeek's 8/11 (73%), making NVIDIA more suitable for tool-heavy applications. Both providers offer reasoning capabilities in 10/11 models (91%), but neither supports web search functionality, limiting their utility for real-time information retrieval tasks.
NVIDIA's free tier strategy (4 models) targets rapid prototyping and evaluation, while DeepSeek's all-paid approach suggests focus on production deployments only. With identical model counts (11 each) and similar average scores (42/100 DeepSeek vs 40/100 NVIDIA), the key differentiator is NVIDIA's broader pricing range that accommodates both budget-conscious startups and enterprises.
NVIDIA provides the optimal path with 4 free models that likely cover both capabilities, versus DeepSeek's minimum $0.290/M entry cost. Among paid options, NVIDIA's models with both reasoning and function calling start at $0.160/M - 45% cheaper than DeepSeek's comparable offerings.