DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) by DeepSeek or Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite by Google? 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 23.9 points higher (39.5 vs 15.6) but costs 4.3× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $156; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when you need intelligence above 15.6, and Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite when 15.6 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.5 | 15.6 | −60.5% Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is 60.5% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $671.96 | $155.87 | −76.8% Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is 76.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.00s | 6.15s | −59.0% Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is 59.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.29 / $1.20 | $0.25 / $1.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Speech, Video |
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max): 60.5% less intelligence, 76.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 59.0% faster 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.
- Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Max) scores 38.10 for $122.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)Gemini 3.1 Flash-LiteToday'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/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-preview · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-preview?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill