AllocateDeepSeek V4 vs Claude Opus 4.8
On provider list prices, DeepSeek V4 costs $1.74 per million input tokens against $5 for Claude Opus 4.8: 2.9x apart. Output is $3.48 against $25 (7.2x).
DeepSeek V4
Claude Opus 4.8Specifications and provider list prices from the Allocate catalog, checked 2026-07-21.
What the numbers say
Take 1,000,000 requests a month at 1,200 input and 350 output tokens each. That workload costs $3,306 a month on DeepSeek V4 and $14,750 on Claude Opus 4.8 at list: a gap of $11,444, or 4.5x.
DeepSeek V4 reads 512K tokens per request against 200K for Claude Opus 4.8, 2.6x the window. That decides which one can take whole documents without splitting them.
Choose DeepSeek V4 for
- Reasoning-heavy agents
- Long-document analysis
- Cost-sensitive production routes
Choose Claude Opus 4.8 for
- Hardest reasoning problems
- High-stakes analysis
- Escalation tier for agents
Common questions
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or Claude Opus 4.8?
DeepSeek V4, on this workload shape. At list prices it is $1.74/$3.48 per million tokens in and out against $5/$25 for Claude Opus 4.8. Billed on Allocate: $1.86/$3.72 against $5.35/$26.75.
Which has the bigger context window?
DeepSeek V4: 512,000 tokens (512K) against 200,000 (200K) for Claude Opus 4.8.
Can I fine-tune DeepSeek V4 or Claude Opus 4.8?
No. Both are closed models served over API. If you want a model you can train and own, start from an open-weights base in the catalog.
Related comparisons
Run the numbers on your workload
Or don’t choose. On Allocate a route name is the contract: point yours at one model today, swap to the other tomorrow, and compare them on your live traffic with per-token metering.