Context Window

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Deepseek V3 1 vs Sonar

This page is context-first: how much text each model can take in one request. Full specs adds capabilities and limits; the pricing matrix below is only about $/million tokens from hosts that list both models.

Deepseek

Model

Deepseek V3 1

Tool calling

Context window

164K

163,840 tokens · ~123K words

Model page
Perplexity

Model

Sonar

Image input

Context window

128K

128,000 tokens · ~96K words

Model page

Context window · side by side

Bar length is relative to the larger of the two windows (100% = max of this pair). This is not pricing.

Deepseek V3 1164K
Sonar128K

Deepseek V3 1 has about 1.3× the context window of the other in this pair.

Token calculator →Memory savings →

Deepseek V3 1 has 28% more context capacity (163K vs 128K tokens). Deepseek V3 1 is 73% cheaper on input.

Quick verdicts

Short takeaways — validate with your own workloads.

  • Long document processing

    Use Deepseek V3 1. Its 163K context fits entire documents without chunking (vs 128K).

  • RAG / high-volume retrieval

    Use Deepseek V3 1. Input tokens are 73% cheaper — critical when sending large retrieved contexts.

Full specs

Context, output, capabilities, and dates. Green highlights the favorable value where we compute a winner.

SpecDeepseek V3 1Sonar
Context window163,840 tokens (163K)128,000 tokens (128K)
Max output tokens163,840 tokens (163K)N/A
Speed tierBalancedBalanced
VisionNoYes
Function callingYesNo
Extended thinkingYesNo
Prompt cachingYesNo
Batch APINoNo
Release dateN/AJan 2025

Pricing matrix

Dollar rates only: hosts that list both models, per 1M tokens. For how much text fits, use the context section above — not this table.

ProviderDeepseek V3 1 inDeepseek V3 1 outSonar inSonar out
Baseten$0.500/M$1.50/M——
Deepinfra$0.270/M$1.00/M——
Novita$0.270/M$1.00/M——
Perplexity——$1.00/M$1.00/M
Replicate$0.672/M$2.02/M——
Sambanova$3.00/M$4.50/M——
Together Ai$0.600/M$1.70/M——

Frequently asked questions

Deepseek V3 1 has a larger context window: 163K tokens vs 128K. For long documents, large codebases, or extended agent sessions, the larger context window reduces the need to chunk inputs or summarize history.

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Use a smaller model.
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Mem0 gives your AI long-term memory so you stop re-sending context on every call. That means you can use a smaller, faster, cheaper model — and still get better answers.

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Example: a multi-turn chat session

Without Mem0~128K tokens sent
Full history
Repeated info
Old context
With Mem0~20K tokens sent
Key memories
Current turn

80% less to send — works with any model