DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs GPT-6 Luna (High)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) by DeepSeek or GPT-6 Luna (High) 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
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) scores 6.6 points higher (39.5 vs 32.9) but costs 14× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $47.9; premium vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when you need intelligence above 32.9, and GPT-6 Luna (High) when 32.9 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | GPT-6 Luna (High) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.5 | 32.9 | −16.7% GPT-6 Luna (High) is 16.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $671.96 | $47.85 | −92.9% GPT-6 Luna (High) is 92.9% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.04s | 14.65s | −2.6% GPT-6 Luna (High) is 2.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.29 / $1.20 | $0.10 / $0.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Luna (High) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max): 16.7% less intelligence, 92.9% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 2.6% 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-6 Luna (High) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)GPT-6 Luna (High)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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