DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) by DeepSeek or GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) by OpenAI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) scores 9.4 points higher (39.5 vs 30.1) but costs 1.5× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $447; premium vs mid-range cost classes). Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium).
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.5 | 30.1 | −23.8% GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) is 23.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $671.96 | $446.53 | −33.5% GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) is 33.5% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 14.92s | 5.85s | −60.8% GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) is 60.8% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.29 / $1.20 | $2.00 / $12.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max): 23.8% less intelligence, 33.5% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 60.8% 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 Terra (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)GPT-5.6 Terra (Medium)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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