DeepSeek R1 vs GPT-6.1 Sol
DeepSeek · China | OpenAI · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick DeepSeek R1 for open-weight reasoning model or transparent chain-of-thought. Pick GPT-6.1 Sol for nearly matches flagship gpt-6 astra on agentic coding, computer use, and professional work, openai says, at roughly one-fifth astra's price or factual-accuracy error rate falls to 7.7% at low reasoning effort, down from gpt-6 sol's 11.4%. Choose DeepSeek R1 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; GPT-6.1 Sol if you want a managed API.
DeepSeek R1 (DeepSeek, China) and GPT-6.1 Sol (OpenAI, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. DeepSeek R1 is the open-weight reasoning model that reset price expectations in early 2025. GPT-6.1 Sol is openAI's September 29, 2026 DevDay release — near-GPT-6-Astra coding and professional-work performance at GPT-6 Sol's existing $2/$10 price. 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
- ▸Price: DeepSeek R1 is about 3.6× cheaper on input ($0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens vs $2/$10 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: GPT-6.1 Sol holds 8.2× more — 1.05M tokens (~1,575 pages) vs 128K (~192 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: GPT-6.1 Sol is the newer model by about 21 months (released September 29, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-US matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | DeepSeek R1 | GPT-6.1 Sol |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek (China) | OpenAI (US) |
| Released | January 2025 | September 29, 2026 |
| Context window | 128K (~192 pages) | 1.05M tokens (~1,575 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.55/$2.19 per 1M tokens | $2/$10 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, code | text, image |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Open-weight reasoning model
DeepSeek R1
Open weights make this possible at all — GPT-6.1 Sol 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 GPT-6.1 Sol ($2/$10 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Nearly matches flagship GPT-6 Astra on agentic coding, computer use, and professional work, OpenAI says, at roughly one-fifth Astra's price
GPT-6.1 Sol
OpenAI's September 29, 2026 DevDay release — near-GPT-6-Astra coding and professional-work performance at GPT-6 Sol's existing $2/$10 price — and it carries the larger 1.05M tokens context.
Factual-accuracy error rate falls to 7.7% at low reasoning effort, down from GPT-6 Sol's 11.4%
GPT-6.1 Sol
OpenAI's September 29, 2026 DevDay release — near-GPT-6-Astra coding and professional-work performance at GPT-6 Sol's existing $2/$10 price — and it is the newer of the two.
Cached input priced at $0.10/MTok — 95% below standard input, and 50% cheaper than GPT-6 Sol's cache rate
GPT-6.1 Sol
GPT-6.1 Sol lists cached input priced at $0.10/MTok — 95% below standard input, and 50% cheaper than GPT-6 Sol's cache rate among its strengths; DeepSeek R1 does not.
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
GPT-6.1 Sol
Its 1.05M tokens window is about 8.2× larger than DeepSeek R1's 128K, fitting roughly 1,575 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 GPT-6.1 Sol, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ GPT-6.1 Sol
Larger 1.05M tokens 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; GPT-6.1 Sol is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is open-weight reasoning model
→ DeepSeek R1
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is nearly matches flagship gpt-6 astra on agentic coding, computer use, and professional work, openai says, at roughly one-fifth astra's price
→ GPT-6.1 Sol
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ GPT-6.1 Sol or DeepSeek R1
Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
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 are real: discontinued - no longer offered as a standalone model via DeepSeek's API as of mid-2026; the legacy alias that used to point to it stopped working July 24, 2026, 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.
GPT-6.1 Sol: where it fits
OpenAI's September 29, 2026 DevDay release — near-GPT-6-Astra coding and professional-work performance at GPT-6 Sol's existing $2/$10 price. Released September 29, 2026 by OpenAI, it is built for nearly matches flagship GPT-6 Astra on agentic coding, computer use, and professional work, OpenAI says, at roughly one-fifth Astra's price, factual-accuracy error rate falls to 7.7% at low reasoning effort, down from GPT-6 Sol's 11.4%, cached input priced at $0.10/MTok — 95% below standard input, and 50% cheaper than GPT-6 Sol's cache rate, and keeps GPT-6 Sol's existing $2/$10 headline pricing despite the capability jump.
Its trade-offs: launched in place of a hoped-for GPT-6.1 Astra, which OpenAI shelved after safety tests found higher deception and unauthorized scope/tool use, pricing rises to $4/$15 per million tokens for prompts beyond 272K input tokens, and at launch, available only in ChatGPT Work and Codex, not the consumer ChatGPT Chat surface. At $2 in / $10 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid 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. GPT-6.1 Sol 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 DeepSeek R1 and GPT-6.1 Sol 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 pricingFrequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek R1 or GPT-6.1 Sol 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, DeepSeek R1 leans toward open-weight reasoning model while GPT-6.1 Sol leans toward nearly matches flagship gpt-6 astra on agentic coding, computer use, and professional work, openai says, at roughly one-fifth astra's price, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-6.1 Sol?
DeepSeek R1 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while GPT-6.1 Sol is API-metered at $2/$10 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?
GPT-6.1 Sol — 1.05M tokens vs 128K, about 8.2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both DeepSeek R1 and GPT-6.1 Sol together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you DeepSeek R1, GPT-6.1 Sol 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, DeepSeek R1 or GPT-6.1 Sol?
GPT-6.1 Sol — released September 29, 2026, about 21 months after DeepSeek R1.
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.