Both are mid-tier models with 1M-token windows. DeepSeek V4-Pro is several times cheaper, but its listed price is the off-peak rate, and it doesn't accept images.
Off-peak, DeepSeek V4-Pro is about 3× cheaper on input and 5× on output than Claude Sonnet 5.5; during DeepSeek's weekday peak window its rates double, halving that lead. Sonnet 5.5 has constant pricing, image input, and Anthropic's Batch API and data-residency options.
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | DeepSeek V4-Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
| Tier | Mid-tier | Mid-tier |
| Input / 1M tokens | $2.00 | $0.66 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $10.00 | $1.98 |
| Cache hit / 1M | $0.10 | $0.022 |
| Cache write / 1M | $2.50 | — |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Notes | Released Sep 28, 2026, replacing Sonnet 5 at the identical $2/$10 per 1M price; Sonnet 5 is now a legacy model | A planned Sep 14, 2026 reroute to V4.1-Flash rates was reversed after user pushback; billing unchanged since the Aug 13, 2026 GA build. Off-peak rate shown; peak (01:00-04:00 & 06:00-10:00 UTC weekdays) is 2x: $1.32/$3.96 |
DeepSeek V4-Pro is 3.0× cheaper on input tokens ($0.66 vs $2.00 per 1M). DeepSeek V4-Pro is 5.1× cheaper on output tokens ($1.98 vs $10.00 per 1M).
| Workload | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | DeepSeek V4-Pro | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support chatbot 10,000 conversations × (2,000 input + 400 output tokens) | $80.00 | $21.12 | DeepSeek V4-Pro saves $58.88 |
| Document Q&A 1,000 questions × (30,000 input + 800 output tokens) | $68.00 | $21.38 | DeepSeek V4-Pro saves $46.62 |
| Coding agent session 4M input tokens (90% cache hits) + 150,000 output tokens | $2.66 | $0.64 | DeepSeek V4-Pro saves $2.02 |
Standard rates per 1M tokens from data on this site. The coding-agent row assumes 90% of input is read from the prompt cache (full input price where a model has no cache rate). Cache-write fees, batch discounts and long-context surcharges listed in the notes are not included. Updated November 2, 2026.
you need image inputs, constant pricing at any hour, US-only data residency, or your evals show it handles your tasks better.
your workload is text-only, cost-sensitive, and much of it can run off-peak (weekends, or outside 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays).
DeepSeek's off-peak rate is $0.66/$1.98; during the weekday peak window everything doubles. Interactive products serving European business hours land partly in peak; overnight batch jobs scheduled for off-peak get the full discount. At peak, V4-Pro is still well under Sonnet's $2.00/$10.00.
V4-Pro's cache hit ($0.022 off-peak) is about a thirtieth of its input price. Sonnet's ($0.10) is 5% of its input, plus a $2.50 write fee for a 5-minute cache. For long agent sessions both are cheap on cached tokens; output rate drives the difference.
Anthropic's Batch API halves Sonnet 5.5's rates and stacks with caching — batched Sonnet is still above off-peak V4-Pro. Anthropic also offers US-only inference at 1.1× standard pricing. DeepSeek lists V4-Pro with thinking mode on by default and up to 384K output tokens, so measure output length per task.
Off-peak, about 3× on input and 5× on output. During DeepSeek's weekday peak window its rates double.
No. DeepSeek lists vision as not supported for V4-Pro.
No. Sonnet 5.5's rates are the same at any hour and across its full 1M window.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.