Claude Opus 5.5 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro: pricing compared
For a 30-step coding agent run, DeepSeek V4 Pro is 4.4x cheaper ($0.38 vs $1.66). Prices verified 2026-10-18.
| Claude Opus 5.5 | DeepSeek V4 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
| Input / 1M | $4.00 | $1.32 |
| Cached input / 1M | $0.20 | $0.044 |
| Output / 1M | $20.00 | $3.96 |
| Batch discount | 50% | — |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Long-context tier | none | none |
Cost on real workloads
| Workload | Claude Opus 5.5 | DeepSeek V4 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 chatbot replies 2,000 input + 400 output tokens each, 50% of the prompt cached | $122 | $29.48 |
| One 30-step coding agent run 12K system + tools prompt, 1K output and 3K tool result per step, caching on | $1.66 | $0.38 |
| 1M documents classified (batch) 600 input + 20 output tokens each, batch API where available | $1,400 | $871 |
Price is only half the decision: a cheaper model that needs more steps or retries can cost more per finished task. Run your own numbers in the calculator (both models pinned), or see how both rank in the use-case guides.
FAQ
Is Claude Opus 5.5 cheaper than DeepSeek V4 Pro?
For a typical 30-step coding agent run with caching, DeepSeek V4 Pro costs $0.38 and Claude Opus 5.5 costs $1.66, so DeepSeek V4 Pro is 4.4x cheaper. Per 1M tokens, Claude Opus 5.5 is $4.00 / $20.00 and DeepSeek V4 Pro is $1.32 / $3.96.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Opus 5.5: 1,000,000 tokens. DeepSeek V4 Pro: 1,000,000 tokens.