Alibaba vs 
DeepSeek
Verdict
- Alibaba's flagship leads: Qwen3 8 at 63.9 vs Deepseek v4 Pro at 60.3.
- Alibaba has the better model in 2 of 4 price bands.
- Alibaba's fastest ranked model (Qwen3.5 Omni Flash, 235 tok/s) beats DeepSeek's (Deepseek v4 Flash Vision, 119 tok/s).
- Alibaba publishes more open-weights models (44 vs 10).
- Alibaba ships more often: one model every 6 days against every 84.
Best model per price band
Each provider’s highest-index model below the price ceiling. Purple marks the winner of the band.
| Price band | Alibaba | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Under $0.50/M | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 59.3$0.230/M | DeepSeek V4 Flash high 59.3$0.168/M |
| Under $2/M | Qwen3.7 Plus 59.7$1.13/M | DeepSeek V4 Pro high 60.0$0.548/M |
| Under $10/M | Qwen3 8 max 63.9$2.67/M | DeepSeek V4 Pro high 60.0$0.548/M |
| Any price | Qwen3 8 max 63.9$2.67/M | DeepSeek V4 Pro high 60.0$0.548/M |
Line-up
| Metric | Alibaba | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Flagship index | 63.9 | 60.3 |
| Ranked models | 44 | 14 |
| Open-weights models | 44 | 10 |
| Cheapest ranked, $/M | $0.030 | $0.068 |
| Fastest ranked, tok/s | 235 | 119 |
| Release cadence, days | 6 | 84 |
| Last release | 26 Aug 2026 | 21 Aug 2026 |
| Next expected | 29 Aug 2026 – 3 Sept 2026 | 10 Oct 2026 – 16 Dec 2026 |