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DeepSeek V4 Pro vs Claude Sonnet 5

DeepSeek V4 Pro and Claude Sonnet 5: current price, context, max output, and supported operations.

Which one to choose

Pick DeepSeek V4 Pro for hard math, STEM reasoning and agentic coding on an open-weight model with tunable thinking effort. Pick Claude Sonnet 5 when the job involves images, browsing or an everyday agent that verifies its own changes. The deciding factor is modality and openness: V4 Pro reads text only and ships open weights, while Sonnet 5 accepts images and is Anthropic's mid-tier hosted model.

Pricing comparison

DeepSeek V4 ProClaude Sonnet 5
Model makerDeepSeekAnthropic
Delivery availabilityAvailableAvailable
Context window1M1M
Max output384K128K
Official price
Input$0.66per 1M tokensOutput$1.98per 1M tokens
Input$2.00per 1M tokensOutput$10.00per 1M tokens
Verified price—
Input$0.70per 1M tokensOutput$3.50per 1M tokens
Model performance
30-day success rate
100.0%
30-day success rate
99.9%
Capabilities
JSON modePrompt CacheReasoningTool use
JSON modePrompt CacheReasoningTool useVision

Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro when

  • Your problems are proofs, algorithm design or concurrency bugs that reward a maximum reasoning setting.
  • You want an open-weight model family you can also self-host and test against.
  • You want to set thinking effort per request, up to a maximum level.

Choose Claude Sonnet 5 when

  • Your inputs include screenshots, scans or diagrams alongside text.
  • You need an agent that browses, compares sources and returns a sourced answer.
  • You want the model to write a failing test and confirm its own fix without extra prompting.

How they differ

AspectDeepSeek V4 ProClaude Sonnet 5
Input typesReads text only; image work needs a different DeepSeek model.Reads text and images in the same request.
Reasoning controlThinking and non-thinking modes with low, high and max effort, and reasoning text must be passed back in tool conversations.Thinking is built in, but sampling settings such as temperature, top_p and top_k must stay at their defaults.
OpennessOpen-weight mixture-of-experts model that can be run outside the hosted API.Closed-weight model from Anthropic.
Strength profileAimed at agentic coding, math, STEM and broad world knowledge.Aimed at everyday coding, planning and browsing, with the habit of checking its own work.
Latency tradeoffMax effort produces long reasoning that adds delay.Positioned as the faster everyday tier compared with Anthropic's Opus models.

Summary

  • DeepSeek V4 Pro: —; Claude Sonnet 5: Input $0.70 / Output $3.50 per 1M tokens. Rates depend on the billing unit, specification, and usage. Compare matching conditions in the model's detailed pricing; a single rate does not determine the total cost.
  • DeepSeek V4 Pro supports 3.0x more output tokens
DeepSeek V4 Pro
DeepSeek V4
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Claude Sonnet 5
Claude 5
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FAQ

Is DeepSeek V4 Pro better than Claude Sonnet 5?

Neither wins across the board. V4 Pro is stronger as a text-only reasoning engine for math and STEM, with open weights. Sonnet 5 is the better choice when you need vision, browsing or a general-purpose agent.

Which of the two handles images?

Claude Sonnet 5 does. DeepSeek V4 Pro reads text only, so a pipeline that includes screenshots or scanned pages needs Sonnet 5 or another vision-capable model for those steps.

Can one replace the other without prompt changes?

Not directly. V4 Pro depends on thinking effort levels and reasoning text passed between turns, while Sonnet 5 refuses non-default sampling parameters. Expect to adjust request parameters and re-test tool-call flows.

When should I use both?

Use Sonnet 5 as the front agent that browses and reads images, and send the narrow hard-reasoning steps, such as a derivation or a tricky algorithm, to V4 Pro at high effort.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 Pro or Claude Sonnet 5?

DeepSeek V4 Pro: —; Claude Sonnet 5: Input $0.70 / Output $3.50 per 1M tokens. Rates depend on the billing unit, specification, and usage. Compare matching conditions in the model's detailed pricing; a single rate does not determine the total cost.

What are the key differences between DeepSeek V4 Pro and Claude Sonnet 5?

Claude Sonnet 5: Vision

Sources

Reviewed Oct 2, 2026