DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) 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 V4.1 Flash (Max) scores 15.3 points higher (39.5 vs 24.2) but costs 4.5× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $149; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when you need intelligence above 24.2, and DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) when 24.2 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.5 | 24.2 | −38.7% DeepSeek V4 Flash 042… is 38.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $671.96 | $149.48 | −77.8% DeepSeek V4 Flash 042… is 77.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.00s | 100.76s | +571.7% DeepSeek V4 Flash 042… is 571.7% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.29 / $1.20 | $0.11 / $0.23 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (Max) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max): 38.7% less intelligence, 77.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 571.7% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- 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 V4 Flash 0420 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)DeepSeek V4 Flash 0420 (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/deepseek-v4-flash-0420 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash/deepseek-v4-flash-0420?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill