The closest alternative to DeepSeek V3 is DeepSeek V4 Pro — comparable intelligence (44.3 vs —); for a cheaper option, MiniMax M3 (batch) runs $0.150/M vs $0.200/M; and the best open-weight substitute is Kimi K3.
DeepSeek V4 Pro is the closest alternative to DeepSeek V3, with an Intelligence Index of 44.3 (DeepSeek V3 scores —) at $0.435 per million input tokens.
Yes — MiniMax M3 (batch) costs $0.150 per million input tokens versus $0.200 for DeepSeek V3, while staying within ~8 points of its Intelligence Index.
Kimi K3 is the strongest open-weight alternative to DeepSeek V3 — downloadable from Hugging Face and self-hostable, scoring 57.1 on intelligence.