DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview

    Comparison

    As of August 20, 2026, QwQ-32B-Preview is 73% cheaper per million tokens than DeepSeek-R1-0528. DeepSeek-R1-0528 is $0.55 / $2.19 per million input/output tokens versus QwQ-32B-Preview at $0.15 / $0.60. Sources: https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing and https://bailian.console.aliyun.com/

    Sources: DeepSeek API pricing (https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing); Qwen pricing (https://bailian.console.aliyun.com/)

    DeepSeek-R1-0528

    DeepSeek

    $2.74blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.55

    Output

    $2.19

    131.1K ctx|Open Source
    73%
    cheaper
    Better value

    QwQ-32B-Preview

    Qwen

    $0.75blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.15

    Output

    $0.60

    32.8K ctx|Open Source
    Save $1.99 per million tokens by choosing QwQ-32B-Preview over DeepSeek-R1-0528.

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview comparison

    Token pricing, specs, and benchmarks side by side

    Metric
    DeepSeek-R1-0528
    QwQ-32B-Preview
    Provider
    Provider
    DeepSeek
    Qwen
    License
    Open Source
    Open Source
    Release Date
    2025-05-28
    2024-11-28
    Pricing (per 1M tokens)
    Input Price+267%
    $0.55
    $0.15
    Output Price+265%
    $2.19
    $0.60
    Blended (1M + 1M)
    $2.74
    $0.75
    Model Details
    Context Window
    131.1K
    32.8K
    Max Output Tokens
    131.1K
    32.8K
    Knowledge Cutoff
    N/A
    2024-11-28
    Throughput
    9 tok/s
    76.04 tok/s
    Benchmarks
    17.7%
    81%
    65.2%
    76.3%
    8.9%
    92.3%
    1.1%
    87.5%
    91.4%
    50%
    90.6%
    96.6%
    64.3%
    79.4%
    40.3%
    85%
    93.4%
    40.8%
    Benchmark Wins
    DeepSeek-R1-0528 3|0 QwQ-32B-Preview

    Verdict

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview: the bottom line

    QwQ-32B-Preview offers significantly lower pricing, while DeepSeek-R1-0528 leads on benchmark performance. Your choice depends on whether cost efficiency or raw capability matters more for your use case.

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview FAQ

    Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-R1-0528 or QwQ-32B-Preview?

    As of August 20, 2026, QwQ-32B-Preview is 73% cheaper on blended LLM API pricing. QwQ-32B-Preview costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens ($0.75 blended 1M-in + 1M-out). DeepSeek-R1-0528 costs $0.55 / $2.19 per million tokens ($2.74 blended). Sources: https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing and https://bailian.console.aliyun.com/. The cheapest LLM for your app still depends on how many output tokens you generate.

    How much does DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview cost per million tokens?

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 DeepSeek API pricing is $0.55 input and $2.19 output per million tokens via DeepSeek. QwQ-32B-Preview Qwen API pricing is $0.15 input and $0.60 output per million tokens via Qwen. Use those four numbers, not ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription prices, when you are comparing APIs.

    Which is better for coding, DeepSeek-R1-0528 or QwQ-32B-Preview?

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 has a published SWE-bench Verified score of 44.6%. QwQ-32B-Preview does not have that eval on this page yet.

    What is the context window for DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview?

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 supports a 131K token context window, while QwQ-32B-Preview supports 33K tokens. DeepSeek-R1-0528 offers a larger context window. Filling a larger window bills more input tokens, so the cheaper-per-million model can still cost more on long documents.

    Which model performs better on benchmarks, DeepSeek-R1-0528 or QwQ-32B-Preview?

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks versus QwQ-32B-Preview's 0 wins. Check the comparison table for GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench, MMLU, HLE, and the other evals we track. Token price and benchmark score together are the usual LLM comparison, not either number alone.

    Is DeepSeek-R1-0528 or QwQ-32B-Preview better for production use?

    Both DeepSeek-R1-0528 and QwQ-32B-Preview are production API models. For cost-sensitive production traffic, QwQ-32B-Preview has better economics on the blended 1M-in + 1M-out scale. For maximum capability, weight the benchmark table for your domain. Many production stacks route cheap models for drafts and a frontier model for the hard turn, which is usually cheaper than sending everything to the expensive API.

    Can I switch between DeepSeek-R1-0528 and QwQ-32B-Preview in my app?

    Yes. Call DeepSeek-R1-0528 through DeepSeek and QwQ-32B-Preview through Qwen with separate API keys, or through a gateway that already wraps both. Keep prompts in tokens, not characters, when you estimate the invoice. AnotherWrapper templates can swap providers without rewriting auth and billing.

    How accurate is this DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview pricing data?

    List rates are the latest published DeepSeek API pricing and Qwen API pricing, quoted per million tokens. Official rate sheets: https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing and https://bailian.console.aliyun.com/. Prompt caching, batch APIs, and committed-use discounts can change the invoice. Benchmark scores are from official publications and independent evals, updated as new numbers land.

    What is the output token limit for DeepSeek-R1-0528 and QwQ-32B-Preview?

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 supports up to 131K output tokens per request, while QwQ-32B-Preview supports up to 33K output tokens. Output tokens are usually the expensive half of API pricing, so a higher max output cap is a capability, not a discount.

    Which model has better throughput, DeepSeek-R1-0528 or QwQ-32B-Preview?

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 runs at approximately 9 tokens/second while QwQ-32B-Preview runs at 76.04 tokens/second. QwQ-32B-Preview is faster in raw throughput. Throughput (tokens per second) and time-to-first-token are why two models with the same per-million-token price can still feel different in chat and agents.

    How do I switch the models in this DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview comparison?

    Use the model pickers at the top of this LLM comparison. Search any model in the index and the URL updates. Open DeepSeek-R1-0528 or QwQ-32B-Preview from the sidebar for the single-model API pricing page, or go back to the LLM pricing table to sort by cheapest blended cost.

    DeepSeek-R1-0528 vs QwQ-32B-Preview pricing

    This comparison covers API pricing, context window, throughput, and benchmark scores. DeepSeek-R1-0528 costs $0.55/M input and $2.19/M output. QwQ-32B-Preview costs $0.15/M input and $0.60/M output.

    Rank both on the LLM leaderboard, SWE-bench, and Humanity's Last Exam.

    The index

    All Large Language Models

    280 models across 33 providers. Search or jump to a lab — every model page stays linked here.

    Baidu

    1 models

    Inception

    1 models

    inclusionAI

    1 models

    LG AI Research

    1 models

    Nous Research

    1 models

    Sakana AI

    1 models

    StepFun

    1 models

    Tencent

    1 models

    Thinking Machines

    1 models

    Unisound

    1 models

    Upstage

    1 models

    Next step

    You found the model. Now ship the product.

    Auth, billing, and the API layer are already decided. Fork 8 finished AI apps, or have us build the first version with you.