DeepSeek R1 (Jan '25) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek R1 (Jan '25) by DeepSeek or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) by DeepSeek? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) scores 28.1 points higher (39.5 vs 11.4) but costs 1.5× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $461; premium vs mid-range cost classes). Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise DeepSeek R1 (Jan '25).
| Metric | DeepSeek R1 (Jan '25) | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 11.4 | 39.5 | +246.5% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (… is 3.5× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $460.74 | $671.96 | +45.8% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (… is 45.8% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 20.16s | 15.00s | −25.6% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (… is 25.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $4.00 | $0.29 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs DeepSeek R1 (Jan '25): 246.5% more intelligence, 45.8% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 25.6% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek R1 (Jan '25) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
DeepSeek R1 (Jan '25)DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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