DeepSeek-R1 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro: the real cost to run each

The honest, $0-markup cost to run DeepSeek-R1 (DeepSeek, 671B) and DeepSeek V4 Pro (deepseek-ai, 861.6B), side by side — free on your own machine, on your own rented GPU at the vendor's price, or via your own API key.

DeepSeek-R1 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro — cost comparison

Which should you pick?

• Easiest to run locally: DeepSeek-R1 (needs ~453 GB VRAM at its default quant).
• Cheapest via your own API key: DeepSeek V4 Pro ($0.66/1M blended).
• Cheapest to rent by the hour: DeepSeek-R1 (from $9.73/hr on one rented box).
• Longest context: DeepSeek V4 Pro (1M tokens).

VRAM, size, context and license are facts from the catalog and the shared cost engine; API prices are real where we have them (labeled "est." otherwise). We don't rank model quality or quote benchmarks here.

Full cost breakdown: DeepSeek-R1 →
Full cost breakdown: DeepSeek V4 Pro →

Open the free Spanvero advisor → to compare them live for your exact workload and hardware.

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Spanvero · All comparisons · Prices as of 2026-06-17. $0 markup, your own accounts, we never resell compute. © 2026 Cynosure LLC.