Amazon Nova Pro vs DeepSeek R1

Amazon · US  |  DeepSeek · China · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Pick Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 or deep aws and bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines. Pick DeepSeek R1 for open-weight reasoning model or transparent chain-of-thought. Choose DeepSeek R1 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Amazon Nova Pro if you want a managed API.

Amazon Nova Pro (Amazon, US) and DeepSeek R1 (DeepSeek, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Amazon Nova Pro is amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. DeepSeek R1 is the open-weight reasoning model that reset price expectations in early 2025. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecAmazon Nova ProDeepSeek R1
ProviderAmazon (US) DeepSeek (China)
ReleasedDecember 5, 2024 January 2025
Context window300K (~450 pages) 128K (~192 pages)
Price (in/out)$0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens
Open weight?No — API only Yes — self-hostable
Modalitiestext, image, video, code text, code
SWE-Bench VerifiedNot published Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published Not published

Who wins what

Multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20

Amazon Nova Pro

Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model — and it carries the larger 300K context.

Deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines

Amazon Nova Pro

Amazon Nova Pro lists deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines among its strengths; DeepSeek R1 does not.

Balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks

Amazon Nova Pro

Amazon Nova Pro lists balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks among its strengths; DeepSeek R1 does not.

Open-weight reasoning model

DeepSeek R1

Open weights make this possible at all — Amazon Nova Pro is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.

Transparent chain-of-thought

DeepSeek R1

The open-weight reasoning model that reset price expectations in early 2025 — and it runs cheaper at $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens.

Low cost

DeepSeek R1

At $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro ($0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.

Lowest cost at scale

DeepSeek R1

At $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.

Largest single-prompt input

Amazon Nova Pro

Its 300K window is about 2.3× larger than DeepSeek R1's 128K, fitting roughly 450 pages in one prompt.

Which should you pick?

A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume

DeepSeek R1

At $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

Amazon Nova Pro

Larger 300K window fits more in one prompt.

A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs

DeepSeek R1

Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Amazon Nova Pro is API-only.

Anyone whose priority is multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20

Amazon Nova Pro

It is specifically built for that.

Anyone whose priority is open-weight reasoning model

DeepSeek R1

That is its strongest area.

An enterprise with regional data-residency rules

Amazon Nova Pro or DeepSeek R1

Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.

Amazon Nova Pro: where it fits

Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Released December 5, 2024 by Amazon, it is built for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines, balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks, and a 300K context for long documents and mixed media.

Its trade-offs are real: not a frontier reasoning or coding model against 2026 flagships, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, best value is realised inside the AWS ecosystem, and late-2024 model — older than most of the field here. At $0.8 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.

DeepSeek R1: where it fits

The open-weight reasoning model that reset price expectations in early 2025. Released January 2025 by DeepSeek, it is built for open-weight reasoning model, transparent chain-of-thought, low cost, and strong maths and code.

Its trade-offs: older than V4, smaller 128K context, and text/code focused. At $0.55 in / $2.19 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.

The bottom line for this matchup

The defining split here is open vs. closed. DeepSeek R1 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Amazon Nova Pro gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.

Want both Amazon Nova Pro and DeepSeek R1 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.

See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is Amazon Nova Pro or DeepSeek R1 better for coding?

Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Pro leans toward multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 while DeepSeek R1 leans toward open-weight reasoning model, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.

Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Pro or DeepSeek R1?

DeepSeek R1 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Amazon Nova Pro is API-metered at $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.

Which has the bigger context window?

Amazon Nova Pro — 300K vs 128K, about 2.3× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.

Can I use both Amazon Nova Pro and DeepSeek R1 together?

Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Pro, DeepSeek R1 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.

Which is newer, Amazon Nova Pro or DeepSeek R1?

DeepSeek R1 — released January 2025, about 46 days after Amazon Nova Pro.

Related comparisons

Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.