DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) by DeepSeek or GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) 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 Sol (Xhigh) scores 4.5 points higher (44.0 vs 39.5) but costs 3.1× as much to run the benchmark ($2082 vs $672; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) when you need intelligence above 39.5, and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when 39.5 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.5 | 44.0 | +11.4% GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) is 11.4% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $671.96 | $2,082.28 | +209.9% GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) is 3.1× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.04s | 37.27s | +147.8% GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) is 147.8% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.29 / $1.20 | $4.00 / $20.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max): 11.4% more intelligence, 209.9% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 147.8% 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.
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)GPT-5.6 Sol (Xhigh)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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