DeepSeek V3 0324 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V3 0324 by DeepSeek or DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (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 Flash 0420 (Max) scores 14.5 points higher (24.2 vs 9.7) but costs 7.5× as much to run the benchmark ($149 vs $19.9; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) when you need intelligence above 9.7, and DeepSeek V3 0324 when 9.7 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V3 0324 | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 9.7 | 24.2 | +149.5% DeepSeek V4 Flash 042… is 2.5× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $19.87 | $149.48 | +652.3% DeepSeek V4 Flash 042… is 7.5× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 4.37s | 103.74s | +2273.9% DeepSeek V4 Flash 042… is 2273.9% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.24 / $0.90 | $0.11 / $0.23 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text |
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) vs DeepSeek V3 0324: 149.5% more intelligence, 652.3% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 2273.9% 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 Flash 0420 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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