DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) vs GPT-5.6 Luna (Max)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) by DeepSeek or GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) 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
GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) scores 12.6 points higher (37.3 vs 24.7) but costs 1.3× as much to run the benchmark ($320 vs $239; both mid-range class). Pick GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning).
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) | GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.7 | 37.3 | +51.0% GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) is 51.0% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $238.91 | $319.93 | +33.9% GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) is 33.9% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 2.90s | 114.07s | +3833.4% GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) is 3833.4% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $1.20 | $0.20 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning): 51.0% more intelligence, 33.9% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 3833.4% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- GPT-5.6 Luna (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Non-reasoning)GPT-5.6 Luna (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-v4-1-flash-non-reasoning/gpt-5-6-luna · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash-non-reasoning/gpt-5-6-luna?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill