DeepSeek V3 0324 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V3 0324 by DeepSeek or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) by DeepSeek? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) scores 35.4 points higher (45.1 vs 9.7) but costs 22× as much to run the benchmark ($445 vs $19.9; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) when you need intelligence above 9.7, and DeepSeek V3 0324 when 9.7 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V3 0324 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 9.7 | 45.1 | +364.9% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1… is 4.6× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $19.87 | $444.60 | +2137.5% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1… is 22× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 4.96s | 14.55s | +193.3% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1… is 193.3% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.24 / $0.90 | $0.30 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) vs DeepSeek V3 0324: 364.9% more intelligence, 2137.5% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 193.3% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V3 0324 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v3-0324/deepseek-v4-1-flash-1017 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v3-0324/deepseek-v4-1-flash-1017?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill