DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus vs GPT-3.5 Turbo
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus leads GPT-3.5 Turbo on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 14.8 to 5.5, and DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus costs 1.5x less per output token ($1.0142 vs $1.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 6 benchmarks have a result for both.
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus or GPT-3.5 Turbo: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus for output tokens 1.5x cheaper ($1.0142 vs $1.50 per million) and a larger context window (164K against 16K tokens).
- Shared results
- 6
- DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus only
- 39
- GPT-3.5 Turbo only
- 7
- Like-for-like categories
- 5 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus leads, 14.8 against 5.5.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus has a AA Agentic Index result, 6.8.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only GPT-3.5 Turbo has a GPQA Diamond result, 30.6%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus has a Design Arena: websites result, 1187.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus takes 164K tokens against 16K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus $0.0008, GPT-3.5 Turbo $0.0013 per turn.
List prices
At a glance
- Coding index
- DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus not benchmarked, GPT-3.5 Turbo not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Reasoning, 49.5 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run): DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus 79.2% against GPT-3.5 Turbo 29.7%, 49.5 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus $1.0142 against GPT-3.5 Turbo $1.50 per million output tokens, 1.5x apart.
- Context window
- DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus takes 164K tokens, GPT-3.5 Turbo 16K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | Bars | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 1 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 1 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 1 | 0 | ||
| General | 2 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 6 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index10
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Coding Index | 43.5 | 10.7 | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 79.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| SciCode | 38.0% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 31.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| ALE-Bench | 745.2 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1425 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1426 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 0.0% | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 14.8 | 5.5 | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 6.8 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 37.1% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 40 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 30.6% | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 79.2% | 29.7% | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 16.4% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| BIG-Bench Hard | Not measured | 61.6% | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1426 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1432 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 57.4% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 16 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Math Index | 89.7 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 89.7% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| GSM8K | Not measured | 57.8% | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1402 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 64.4% | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 58.5% | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 85.1% | 46.2% | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus |
| MMLU | Not measured | 68.5% | Only GPT-3.5 Turbo measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1451 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1468 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1457 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1414 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1187 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1180 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1131 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1168 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1141 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1175 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1065 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 57.0% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 69.3% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| DTBench | 81.3% | 48.5% | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus |
| LMCA | 28.6% | 9.7% | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus |
| LMArena Text | 1419 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1404 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1403 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1429 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1408 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1435 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1427 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1411 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1422 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1409 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1391 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | GPT-3.5 Turbo | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus | OpenAI GPT-3.5 Turbo |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | DeepSeek | OpenAI |
| Weights | Open weights | No public weights listed |
| Released | September 22, 2025 | May 28, 2023 |
| Context window | 164K | 16K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.3063 | $0.50 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.0142 | $1.50 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 0 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus better than GPT-3.5 Turbo for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus for output tokens 1.5x cheaper ($1.0142 vs $1.50 per million) and a larger context window (164K against 16K tokens).
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus or GPT-3.5 Turbo?
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus costs $0.3063 per million input tokens and $1.0142 per million output tokens; GPT-3.5 Turbo costs $0.50 and $1.50. Cost per solved task is known for neither of them.
Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus or GPT-3.5 Turbo?
DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus, with 164K tokens against 16K.
How many benchmarks is the DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus vs GPT-3.5 Turbo comparison based on?
6 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus's coding index rests on 0 independent benchmarks and GPT-3.5 Turbo's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.