DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) vs GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) by DeepSeek or GPT-6 Luna (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
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) scores 4.9 points higher (39.5 vs 34.6) but costs 10× as much to run the benchmark ($672 vs $66.8; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) when you need intelligence above 34.6, and GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) when 34.6 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max) | GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.5 | 34.6 | −12.4% GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) is 12.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $671.96 | $66.81 | −90.1% GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) is 90.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 15.37s | 27.06s | +76.1% GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) is 76.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.29 / $1.20 | $0.10 / $0.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh) vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max): 12.4% less intelligence, 90.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 76.1% 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-6 Luna (Xhigh) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (Max)GPT-6 Luna (Xhigh)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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