DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash

Name: DeepSeek R1 0528
Author: DeepSeek

DeepSeek R1 0528 (2025) and DeepSeek V4 Flash (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from DeepSeek. DeepSeek R1 0528 ships a 130k-token context window, while DeepSeek V4 Flash ships a 1m-token context window. On MMLU PRO, DeepSeek V4 Flash leads by 1.4 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.

DeepSeek V4 Flash fits 8x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and DeepSeek R1 0528 for tighter calls.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first

Signal	DeepSeek R1 0528	DeepSeek V4 Flash	How to read it
Best for	reasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed production	reasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and long-context analysis	Use-case synthesis from product type, capability flags, context, and provider data.
Decision fit	Coding, RAG, and Agents	Coding, RAG, and Agents	Primary workload tags from local decision data.
Context window	130k	1m	Higher is better when prompts, retrieval chunks, or transcripts are large.
Cheapest output	$2.15/1M tokens	$0.12/1M tokens	Cheapest tracked provider route; verify your exact region and tier.
Provider routes	7 tracked	5 tracked	Broader coverage can reduce vendor lock-in and fallback risk.
Shared benchmarks	4 shared	MMLU PRO leader	Visible benchmark lead is 1.4 points on MMLU PRO.

Decision tradeoffs

Choose DeepSeek R1 0528 when...

DeepSeek R1 0528 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
DeepSeek R1 0528 uniquely exposes Code execution in local model data.
Local decision data tags DeepSeek R1 0528 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash when...

DeepSeek V4 Flash holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 1.4 points.
DeepSeek V4 Flash has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
DeepSeek V4 Flash has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.12/1M tokens.
DeepSeek V4 Flash uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use in local model data.
Local decision data tags DeepSeek V4 Flash for Coding, RAG, and Agents.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Lower estimate DeepSeek V4 Flash

Requests / monthInput tokens / requestOutput tokens / request

DeepSeek R1 0528

$938

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

DeepSeek V4 Flash

$76.26

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $861. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

DeepSeek R1 0528 -> DeepSeek V4 Flash

Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, Microsoft Foundry, and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
DeepSeek V4 Flash is $2.03/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.
DeepSeek V4 Flash adds JSON / Tool use in local capability data.

DeepSeek V4 Flash -> DeepSeek R1 0528

Provider overlap exists on Novita AI, OpenRouter, and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
DeepSeek R1 0528 is $2.03/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
DeepSeek R1 0528 adds Code execution in local capability data.

Specs

Specification	DeepSeek R1 0528 DeepSeek	DeepSeek V4 Flash DeepSeek
Released	2025-05-28	2026-04-24
Context window	130k	1m
Parameters	685B total, 37B active (MoE)	284B
Architecture	Decoder Only	Mixture of Experts
License	MITOSI-approved	MITOSI-approved
Openness	Open source	Open source
Weights	Unknown	Available
Code	Unknown	Unknown
Commercial use	Commercial use: permitted	Commercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff	-	-

Pricing and availability

Pricing attribute	DeepSeek R1 0528	DeepSeek V4 Flash
Input price	$0.50/1M tokens	Off-peak $0.22/1M tokens All UTC hours outside DeepSeek's peak windows. Cache-hit input: $0.007 per 1M tokens; cache-miss input: $0.22 per 1M; output: $0.66 per 1M. Peak $0.44/1M tokens 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC. Cache-hit input: $0.014 per 1M tokens; cache-miss input: $0.44 per 1M; output: $1.32 per 1M.
Output price	$2.15/1M tokens	Off-peak $0.66/1M tokens All UTC hours outside DeepSeek's peak windows. Cache-hit input: $0.007 per 1M tokens; cache-miss input: $0.22 per 1M; output: $0.66 per 1M. Peak $1.32/1M tokens 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC. Cache-hit input: $0.014 per 1M tokens; cache-miss input: $0.44 per 1M; output: $1.32 per 1M.
Providers	Together AI Fireworks AI GCP Vertex AI Novita AI OpenRouter Microsoft Foundry	DeepSeek Platform OpenRouter Microsoft Foundry Vercel AI Gateway Novita AI

Capabilities

Capability	DeepSeek R1 0528	DeepSeek V4 Flash
Vision	No	No
Multimodal	No	No
Reasoning	Yes	Yes
JSON / Tool use	No	Yes
Structured outputs	Yes	Yes
Code execution	Yes	No
IDE integration	No	No
Computer use	No	No
Parallel agents	No	No

Benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek R1 0528	DeepSeek V4 Flash
MMLU PRO	85.0	86.4
SWE-bench Verified	57.6	79.0
Google-Proof Q&A	81.0	88.1
LiveCodeBench	73.3	91.6

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Last reviewed: 2026-07-03. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.

Both models

DeepSeek R1 0528 DeepSeek V4 Flash