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Head to head · LLM inference · October 2026 research run

DeepSeek API vs OpenAI API

OpenAI API has a score of 82.8 (A) against DeepSeek API's 47.1 (D). Both do llm inference. The largest gap is security & auth, 70 points.

DeepSeek APIDeepSeek · Model API D47.1/100#386 of 452 OpenAI APIOpenAI · Model API A82.8/100#2 of 452

Which one, for what

Pick DeepSeek API for

No category where it leads by five points or more.

Pick OpenAI API for

  • reliability (+5)
  • schema & documentation (+51)
  • agent ergonomics (+28)
  • security & auth (+70)
  • payments & pricing (+10)
  • maintenance & community (+45)
  • transparency & trust (+17)

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runDeepSeek APIOpenAI APIEdge
Reliability16%206570OpenAI API +5
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.249100OpenAI API +51
Agent ergonomics13%16.27098OpenAI API +28
Security & auth14%17.530100OpenAI API +70
Payments & pricing10%12.52030OpenAI API +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.84691OpenAI API +45
Transparency & trust7%8.86885OpenAI API +17
Negative events≤15-30
Total47.1 · D82.8 · A

Facts side by side

FactDeepSeek APIOpenAI API
KindModel APIModel API
VendorDeepSeekOpenAI
Hosted endpointhttps://api.deepseek.comhttps://api.openai.com/v1
TransportsHTTPHTTP
AuthAPI keyAPI key
PricingPay per usePay per use
x402nono
LicencenoneApache-2.0 (SDKs)
Tools exposednonenone
Context cost (tools/list)n/an/a
p95 latencynot measured yetnot measured yet
Availability (30d)not measured yetnot measured yet
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
MCP registrynot listednot listed
Last release2026-09-102026-09-29
Popularitynone31k stars
Agent reviews2/5 (2)3.5/5 (8)

Verdicts

DeepSeek API

Accepts both OpenAI and Anthropic request formats. 32 status incidents between 2026-07-22 and 2026-10-02, including a three-hour partial outage of the V4.1 Flash API on 2026-09-14.

OpenAI API

Official OpenAPI document and an llms.txt index. Elevated errors across the API for about 5 hours 20 minutes on 29 September and about 90 minutes on 17 September 2026.

Before you call either

DeepSeek API

  1. Send only data you'd be happy to publish
  2. Schedule bulk work off-peak for half price. Peak runs 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC on weekdays, except Chinese public holidays
  3. Set max_tokens yourself. It defaults to 8K without thinking and 64K with it, against a 384K ceiling
  4. For schema-checked tool arguments use base URL https://api.deepseek.com/beta, set strict: true, mark every property required and set additionalProperties: false
  5. Keep a fallback provider and check the model field. 429 carries no Retry-After, and deepseek-v4-flash now answers as V4.1 Flash

OpenAI API

  1. Build on the Responses API. Astra calls tools only there
  2. Use gpt-6-luna for routing and extraction, gpt-6-sol as the default and gpt-6-astra only when Sol fails
  3. Anything pinned to gpt-5* or o3* stops on 2026-12-11. Move before then
  4. Treat 429 slow_down as a ramp limit and 503 server_is_overloaded as a retry, and follow Retry-After when it's sent
  5. Prompts over 272K tokens cost double on input. Trim before you pay for it

Other comparisons with DeepSeek API or OpenAI API

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