DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Low)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) by DeepSeek or GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) scores 24.1 points higher (45.1 vs 21.0) but costs 16× as much to run the benchmark ($445 vs $27.0; 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 21.0, and GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) when 21.0 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) | GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 45.1 | 21.0 | −53.4% GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) is 53.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $444.60 | $27.02 | −93.9% GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) is 93.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.96s | 5.78s | −63.8% GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) is 63.8% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $1.20 | $0.20 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max): 53.4% less intelligence, 93.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 63.8% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- 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.
- GPT-5.6 Luna (Low) 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)GPT-5.6 Luna (Low)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-v4-1-flash-1017/gpt-5-6-luna-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash-1017/gpt-5-6-luna-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill