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DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B: local, rented GPU, and API costs

Compare calculated local requirements, provider-published rented-GPU rates, and dated API rates or clearly labeled size estimates for DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B and DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B. Spanvero adds $0 markup.

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B vs DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B — cost comparison

DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5BDeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B
Parameters1.8B7.6B
Context window131.1K131.1K
LicenseCommercial OKCommercial OK
VRAM to run✓ ~3.0 GB (Q4_K_M)~7.0 GB (Q4_K_M)
Rent a GPU$0.06/hr$0.06/hr
Your API key✓ $0.11/1M (est.)$0.16/1M (est.)

Which should you pick?

VRAM is calculated from catalog specs, quantization, and context. Non-estimated API rates are provider-sourced snapshots dated 2026-08-24; retired upstream rates are last-known and size-derived values are labeled "est." We don't rank model quality or quote benchmarks here.

Full cost breakdown: DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 1.5B →
Full cost breakdown: DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B →

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Spanvero · All comparisons · Prices as of 2026-08-24. $0 markup, your own accounts, we never resell compute. © 2026 Cynosure LLC.

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