DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) vs GPT-6 Luna (Medium)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) by DeepSeek or GPT-6 Luna (Medium) by OpenAI? 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 15.2 points higher (45.1 vs 29.9) but costs 14× as much to run the benchmark ($445 vs $31.2; 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 29.9, and GPT-6 Luna (Medium) when 29.9 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) | GPT-6 Luna (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 45.1 | 29.9 | −33.7% GPT-6 Luna (Medium) is 33.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $444.60 | $31.17 | −93.0% GPT-6 Luna (Medium) is 93.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 14.55s | 8.25s | −43.3% GPT-6 Luna (Medium) is 43.3% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $1.20 | $0.10 / $0.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Luna (Medium) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max): 33.7% less intelligence, 93.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 43.3% 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-6 Luna (Medium) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)GPT-6 Luna (Medium)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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