DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Low)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) by DeepSeek or GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) by OpenAI? 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 6.0 points higher (39.5 vs 33.5) but costs 1.1× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $637; both premium class). Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Sol (Low).
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.5 | 33.5 | −15.2% GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is 15.2% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $671.96 | $637.28 | −5.2% GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is 5.2% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.03s | 8.26s | −45.0% GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is 45.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.29 / $1.20 | $4.00 / $20.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max): 15.2% less intelligence, 5.2% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 45.0% 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.
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.20 for $521.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)GPT-5.6 Sol (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/gpt-5-6-sol-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-1-flash/gpt-5-6-sol-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill