Model comparison
Claude Sonnet 5 vs DeepSeek V3.2
Head-to-head evidence from 10 shared benchmark results across 4 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Claude Sonnet 5 #29 (Estimated); DeepSeek V3.2 #82 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Claude Sonnet 5 and DeepSeek V3.2 share 10 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 26 results are unique to Claude Sonnet 5; 9 to DeepSeek V3.2.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 10
- Claude Sonnet 5 only
- 26
- DeepSeek V3.2 only
- 9
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick Claude Sonnet 5 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V3.2 only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 10 shared benchmark results across 4 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Claude Sonnet 5 is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 65.32 to 55.4. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Claude Sonnet 5's sharpest advantage is in coding, where it averages 76.7 against 60.9.
Claude Sonnet 5 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.00 input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.28 input / $0.42 output per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V3.2. That is roughly 23.8x on output cost alone. Claude Sonnet 5 is the reasoning model in the pair, while DeepSeek V3.2 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. Claude Sonnet 5 gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 128K for DeepSeek V3.2.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Claude Sonnet 5 | Δ | DeepSeek V3.2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | Claude Sonnet 576.7 | Margin← 15.8 | DeepSeek V3.260.9 |
| Agentic | Claude Sonnet 581.9 | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V3.2Not measured |
| Knowledge | Claude Sonnet 557.4 | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V3.2Not measured |
| Math | Claude Sonnet 5Not measured | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V3.217.1 |
| Multimodal | Claude Sonnet 588.3 | MarginNo overlap | DeepSeek V3.2Not measured |
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek V3.2 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Claude Sonnet 5$2 input / $10 output | DeepSeek V3.2$0.28 input / $0.42 output | DeepSeek V3.2 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Claude Sonnet 5Not available | DeepSeek V3.235 tok/s | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Claude Sonnet 5Not available | DeepSeek V3.23.75 s | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Claude Sonnet 51M | DeepSeek V3.2128K | Claude Sonnet 5 lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic17 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek V3.2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 80.4% | — | Not comparable |
| BrowseCompSource | 84.7% | — | Not comparable |
| HLE w/ toolsSource | 57.4% | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | 81.2% | — | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | 1607 | — | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | 46.7% | — | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | 55.4% | — | Not comparable |
| AA BriefcaseSource | 1388 | — | Not comparable |
| AA AutomationBenchSource | 39.2% | — | Not comparable |
| AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource | 44.7% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Harvey LABSource | 90.1% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Tau3 BankingSource | 28.2% | — | Not comparable |
| aaTerminalBench21Source | 80.5% | — | Not comparable |
| Claw-EvalSource | — | 40.2% | Not comparable |
| VITA-BenchSource | — | 18.5% | Not comparable |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | — | 78.9% | Not comparable |
| Gert LabsSource | — | 29.57% | Not comparable |
CodingClaude Sonnet 5 wins11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek V3.2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 85.2% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE-bench ProSource | 63.2% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE MultilingualSource | 78.3% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE MultimodalSource | 28.1% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 80.4% | — | Not comparable |
| FrontierCode 1.1 MainSource | 42.7% | — | Not comparable |
| cursorBench32Source | 61.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | 71.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 53.6% | 38.7% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| SWE-RebenchSource | — | 60.9% | Not comparable |
| React Native EvalsSource | — | 71.5% | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek V3.2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| HLESource | 57.4% | — | Not comparable |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | 43.2% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 53.4% | 24.7% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 91.1% | 75.1% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-HLESource | 39.6% | 10.5% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 15.3% | -46.7% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 38.3% | 24.2% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 37.3% | 93.5% | Claude Sonnet 5 leads |
Math2 benchmarks
Multimodal4 benchmarks
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5 | DeepSeek V3.2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | — | 49.0% | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3.2?
Claude Sonnet 5 is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 65.32 to 55.4.
Which is better for coding, Claude Sonnet 5 or DeepSeek V3.2?
Claude Sonnet 5 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 76.7 versus 60.9. Inside this category, AA-SciCode is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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