DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) vs Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks): API Cost Comparison
Compare the API pricing, context windows, features, and real-world cost projections for DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) (Together AI) and Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) (Fireworks AI). Use the interactive calculator below to compute your exact monthly cost based on your token usage and request volume.
Prices verified Mar 10, 2026
Interactive Cost Calculator
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Showing costs for 2 models. Cheapest: Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) at $4.50/month.
| Alert | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BestQwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) | Fireworks AI | $4.50 | $0.000450 | $1.50 | $3.00 | 93.1% | Alerts coming soon |
DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) | Together AI | $65.00 | $0.006500 | $30.00 | $35.00 | — | Alerts coming soon |
Monthly Cost Comparison
Price Comparison at a Glance
All prices are in USD per 1 million tokens ($/M tokens). Lower is cheaper.
| Pricing Type | DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) | Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input (standard) | $3.00/M | $0.15/M | Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) |
| Output | $7.00/M | $0.60/M | Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) |
| Cached input | N/A | $0.08/M | — |
| Batch input | N/A | $0.08/M | — |
| Batch output | N/A | $0.30/M | — |
Prices last verified: 2026-03-06 – 2026-03-10
Cost Breakdown by Usage Volume
Estimated monthly costs at different request volumes, assuming 1,000 input tokens and 500 output tokens per request. Adjust in the calculator above for your specific use case.
| Volume | DeepSeek R1 (Together AI)Monthly | Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)Monthly | DeepSeek R1 (Together AI)Per request | Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)Per request |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1K requests/mo | $6.50 | $0.45 | $0.006500 | $0.000450 |
| 10K requests/mo | $65.00 | $4.50 | $0.006500 | $0.000450 |
| 100K requests/mo | $650.00 | $45.00 | $0.006500 | $0.000450 |
| 1M requests/mo | $6,500.00 | $450.00 | $0.006500 | $0.000450 |
Green values indicate the lower-cost option at each volume tier. Cost per request is calculated at 1,000 input + 500 output tokens using standard (non-batch, non-cached) pricing.
Price History
Input price per 1M tokensWhen to Choose DeepSeek R1 (Together AI)
by Together AI
- Code generation
- Document summarization
Input / 1M tokens
$3.00/M
Output / 1M tokens
$7.00/M
Context window
65,536
Tier
reasoning
When to Choose Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)
by Fireworks AI
- Document summarization
- General chatbot
Input / 1M tokens
$0.15/M
Output / 1M tokens
$0.60/M
Context window
262,144
Tier
mid
Key Differences Beyond Price
Cost is only one factor in choosing an AI model. Context window size, rate limits, supported features, and latency all affect whether a model fits your use case.
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) | Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 65,536 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output tokens | 8,192 tokens | 8,192 tokens |
| Performance tier | Reasoning | Mid |
| Vision / image input | No | Yes |
| Function calling | No | Yes |
| JSON mode | Yes | Yes |
| Prompt caching | No | Yes |
| Batch API (50% discount) | No | Yes |
| Extended reasoning | Yes | No |
| Fine-tuning | No | No |
DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) notes
Open-source reasoning model. CoT reasoning tokens included in output cost.
Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) notes
Fireworks serverless pricing. Vision/multimodal capable. Cached input 50% discount.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) cheaper than Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)?
At standard usage (1,000 input tokens, 500 output tokens, 100,000 requests/month), Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) costs $45.00/month versus $650.00/month for DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) — a 93% saving. Your actual savings will vary based on your token profile; output-heavy workloads amplify differences in output pricing.
Which model has a larger context window, DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) or Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)?
Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) has a larger context window at 262,144 tokens, compared to 65,536 tokens for DeepSeek R1 (Together AI). A larger context window is important for processing long documents, multi-turn conversations, or large codebases without truncation.
Do DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) and Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) support the Batch API?
Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) supports the Batch API (50% discount for async processing), while DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) does not. If your workload tolerates up to 24-hour latency, routing to Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) with batch pricing could significantly cut costs versus DeepSeek R1 (Together AI)'s standard rate.
Which model offers better prompt caching?
Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) supports prompt caching at $0.08/M for cached input, while DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) does not offer prompt caching. For RAG applications or chatbots with large, repeated context, Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)'s caching capability can substantially reduce effective costs.
What are the best use cases for DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) vs Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)?
Both models are well-suited for Document summarization. DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) is particularly strong for Code generation. Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) is favored for General chatbot. At the same quality level, the lower-cost model is usually preferable; use this page's calculator to compare total monthly spend at your volume.
What is the cost per request for DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) vs Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks)?
At 1,000 input tokens and 500 output tokens per request — a typical conversational workload — DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) costs $0.006500 per request and Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) costs $0.000450 per request. At 100,000 requests/month, that translates to $650.00 and $45.00 respectively. Use the interactive calculator to adjust these parameters for your actual workload.
DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) vs Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks): Summary
When comparing DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) and Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) for API cost, the right choice depends on your workload's token profile, required features, and tolerance for latency. Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) offers lower total cost at standard usage volumes (1,000 input + 500 output tokens per request at 100,000 requests/month) at $45.00/month, compared to $650.00/month for DeepSeek R1 (Together AI).
Both models are priced in USD per million tokens, the standard unit across all major AI API providers. DeepSeek R1 (Together AI) charges $3.00/M for input tokens and $7.00/M for output tokens. Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) charges $0.15/M input and $0.60/M output. If your workload is output-heavy (more tokens generated than consumed as input), the model with the lower output price compounds cost savings significantly at scale.
Prompt caching is supported by Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) but not DeepSeek R1 (Together AI). For workloads with large, repeated system prompts or document context — such as RAG pipelines or multi-turn conversations with a fixed knowledge base — prompt caching can reduce effective input costs by 60–90%, which may change the cost ranking between these two models at your specific usage pattern.
Context window capacity differs between the two: Qwen3 VL 30B (Fireworks) supports up to 262,144 tokens in a single request, versus 65,536 tokens for DeepSeek R1 (Together AI). A larger context window is essential for document summarization, large codebase analysis, and multi-document retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications.
Use the interactive calculator at the top of this page to enter your actual token usage and monthly request volume for a precise cost comparison tailored to your workload. Adjust for batch API discounts and prompt caching to find the most cost-effective option for your specific deployment.
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