DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) 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 31.0 points higher (39.5 vs 8.5) but costs 26× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $25.4; premium vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when you need intelligence above 8.5, and DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) when 8.5 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 8.5 | 39.5 | +364.7% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (… is 4.6× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $25.37 | $671.96 | +2548.6% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (… is 26× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 11.84s | 14.98s | +26.5% DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (… is 26.5% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.32 / $0.89 | $0.29 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24): 364.7% more intelligence, 2548.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 26.5% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- 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 V3 (Dec '24)DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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