Compare / DeepSeek vs xAI

AI labs compared · October 2026

DeepSeek vs xAI: which AI lab is ahead?

Each lab's best model on sale goes head to head on every kind of work we measure, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. 16 models in all; a lab is only as good as the model you would actually pick from it.

12 models on sale with our resultsDeepSeek Best: DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash · newest: DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
4 models on sale with our resultsxAI Best: Grok 4.7 · newest: Grok 4.7
DeepSeek wins 2xAI wins 6

Kinds of work led by each lab's best model there, of the 8 both are measured on.

Results as of 8 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-08-4199ce0620fe). Models on sale means listed on OpenRouter today.

DeepSeek or xAI? The short answer

xAI is ahead: its best models beat DeepSeek's in 6 of the 8 kinds of work both are measured on; DeepSeek leads in 2.

  • Pick DeepSeek for writing and sticking to the facts.
  • Pick xAI for product listings, decks from an analysis, marketing planning, agents and tool use, professional work and reasoning and knowledge.
  • On our overall leaderboard, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is #9 (56 of 100) and Grok 4.7 is #14 (43).
  • Prices start at $0.18 per million tokens for DeepSeek (DeepSeek-V4-Flash (0731)) and $1.56 for xAI (Grok 4.3).

Head to head

56DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
Best Spring Prompt overall score
43Grok 4.7
39.5DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
Best Intelligence Index
46.4Grok 4.7
$0.52DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
Flagship price, per million tokens
$3.00Grok 4.7
$0.18DeepSeek-V4-Flash (0731)
Cheapest model, per million tokens
$1.56Grok 4.3
12
Models on sale with our results
4

Each line names the model behind the number. Prices are blended, three input tokens to one output, at the developer's list price where we have read it; see every model's price. Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis; overall score from our leaderboard.

Which lab is better for what

For each kind of work, each lab's best model there and its rank among every model on sale. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.

Product listingsTurning a sparse product feed and photos into listings that can go live 7 of 20DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash 4 of 20Grok 4.7
Decks from an analysisTurning a finished analysis into a deck you could present as it is 18 of 19DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0423) 9 of 19Grok 4.7
Marketing planningPlanning a year of ad spend without overspending 13 of 19DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0423) 11 of 19Grok 4.7
Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 21 of 164DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash 10 of 164Grok 4.6
Professional workReal tasks from banking, consulting and law, business documents and freelance projects 29 of 51DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) 16 of 51Grok 4.6
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 29 of 198DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) 13 of 198Grok 4.6
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality 28 of 188DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash 40 of 188Grok 4.5
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers 20 of 152DeepSeek-V3.1 43 of 152Grok 4.5

Every model, by intelligence and price

Each dot is a model on sale with an Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis. Up is smarter; left is cheaper. Hover or tap a dot for its name.

DeepSeekxAI

01020304050 $0.1$1$10 Price per million tokens, blended (log scale) Intelligence Index DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813)DeepSeek-V4-Flash (0731)Grok 4.7Grok 4.6Grok 4.5

On our overall leaderboard

The 3 of their models we rank overall: one score out of 100 across everything we publish (how the score works). Only models with enough of our own results are ranked.

  1. #9DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash56
  2. #14Grok 4.743
  3. #18DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0423)33

Benchmark by benchmark

The headline result of every benchmark both labs have models on: each lab's best model and its rank among the models on sale. Green marks the better rank.

MeasureDeepSeekxAI
Agents and tool use
Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 26.8%DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash · 17 of 10525.8%Grok 4.7 · 19 of 105
Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 2.1% of tasks, higher is better 78.7%DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) · 24 of 11588.4%Grok 4.6 · 6 of 115
Artificial Analysis · τ-bench banking% of tasks, higher is better 39.6%DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) · 17 of 11350.7%Grok 4.6 · 1 of 113
Vending-Bench 2 · Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better $3,285DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0423) · 37 of 56$9,047Grok 4.6 · 6 of 56
Decks from an analysis
DeckBench · Deck ratingrating, higher is better 613DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0423) · 18 of 191,229Grok 4.7 · 9 of 19
Marketing planning
ROASBench · Overall scorescore out of 100, higher is better 28.3DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0423) · 13 of 1936.6Grok 4.7 · 11 of 19
Product listings
CatalogBench · Reliably publish-ready% of products, higher is better 41.1%DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash · 9 of 2057.1%Grok 4.7 · 4 of 20
CatalogBench · Reliably publish-ready · sales brief% of products, higher is better 23.2%DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash · 6 of 2033.9%Grok 4.7 · 5 of 20
Professional work
APEX-Agents · Tasks passed% of tasks, higher is better 47.3%DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) · 24 of 3765.3%Grok 4.6 · 6 of 37
Reasoning and knowledge
Artificial Analysis · Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 39.5DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash · 26 of 19846.4Grok 4.7 · 11 of 198
Artificial Analysis · Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 41.0%DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) · 34 of 19744.1%Grok 4.6 · 21 of 197
Artificial Analysis · GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 92.8%DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) · 15 of 18794.9%Grok 4.6 · 3 of 187
Sticking to the facts
Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 1,467DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash · 23 of 1131,465Grok 4.5 · 28 of 113
SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 52.9%DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813) · 20 of 7349.3%Grok 4.6 · 26 of 73
Writing
Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 1,474DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash · 26 of 1661,466Grok 4.5 · 33 of 166
UGI Leaderboard · Writing score · UGIscore out of 100, higher is better 68.4DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0423) · 14 of 13863.3Grok 4.6 · 29 of 138

Their models, one against one

Quick answers

Is DeepSeek or xAI better?

xAI is ahead: its best models beat DeepSeek's in 6 of the 8 kinds of work both are measured on; DeepSeek leads in 2.

What is DeepSeek's best model?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash: #9 on the Spring Prompt overall leaderboard and 39.5 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.

What is xAI's best model?

Grok 4.7: #14 on the Spring Prompt overall leaderboard and 46.4 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.

Which is better for agents and tool use, DeepSeek or xAI?

xAI: its best model there, Grok 4.6, ranks 10 of 164 models on sale, against 21 for DeepSeek's DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash.

Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, DeepSeek or xAI?

xAI: its best model there, Grok 4.6, ranks 13 of 198 models on sale, against 29 for DeepSeek's DeepSeek-V4-Pro (0813).

Which is better for writing, DeepSeek or xAI?

DeepSeek: its best model there, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash, ranks 28 of 188 models on sale, against 40 for xAI's Grok 4.5.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek or xAI?

DeepSeek's cheapest model with results, DeepSeek-V4-Flash (0731), costs $0.18 per million tokens (three input to one output), against $1.56 for Grok 4.3 from xAI.

Other labs compared

Which model is best for your product?

Benchmarks aren't your data. We test the models from DeepSeek, xAI and the rest on your own tasks, with the cost of every answer.

Talk to usSee the leaderboard