Head-to-head comparison
R1 0528 (DeepSeek) and DeepSeek V3.2 (DeepSeek) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.
Snapshot as of 7 November 2026
As of 7 November 2026, DeepSeek V3.2 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#82 vs #86); and DeepSeek V3.2 is 5.7× cheaper per output token ($0.38/1M vs $2.15/1M).
Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.
Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.
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DeepSeek V3.2 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 7 November 2026: #82 against #86. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.
DeepSeek V3.2 is cheaper on output tokens: $0.38/1M against $2.15/1M. Input tokens are $0.50/1M for R1 0528 and $0.26/1M for DeepSeek V3.2. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $2.08 for R1 0528 versus $0.71 for DeepSeek V3.2. DeepSeek V3.2 costs 65.8% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.
Both publish a 164K-token context window. OpenRouter catalogue or provider-endpoint declaration. Limits can vary by provider and prompt length; a model-wide maximum has not been independently verified.
Arena coding: R1 0528 1464, DeepSeek V3.2 1475 — DeepSeek V3.2 leads.
R1 0528: Open weights. DeepSeek V3.2: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence. A missing weight link does not identify every API or chat product that offers a model.
ModelCap currently lists 3 API providers for R1 0528 and 7 for DeepSeek V3.2, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.
Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 7 November 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.