DeepSeek V3.1 vs ShieldGemma 9B
DeepSeek V3.1 (2025) and ShieldGemma 9B (2024) are compact production models from DeepSeek and Google DeepMind. DeepSeek V3.1 ships a 64k-token context window, while ShieldGemma 9B ships a 8k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
DeepSeek V3.1 fits 8x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and ShieldGemma 9B for tighter calls.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek V3.1 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps and provider-routed production | general production evaluation |
| Decision fit | Coding, Agents, and Vision | Classification |
| Context window | 64k | 8k |
| Cheapest output | $1/1M tokens | - |
| Provider routes | 8 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- DeepSeek V3.1 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- DeepSeek V3.1 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- DeepSeek V3.1 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek V3.1 for Coding, Agents, and Vision.
- Local decision data tags ShieldGemma 9B for Classification.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
DeepSeek V3.1
$466
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Novita AI
ShieldGemma 9B
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on NVIDIA NIM; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek V3.1 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-08-21 | 2024-07-01 |
| Context window | 64k | 8k |
| Parameters | 671B total, 37B active (MoE) | 9B |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Gemma |
| Openness | Open source | Open weights |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek V3.1 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.27/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $1/1M tokens | - |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek V3.1 | ShieldGemma 9B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.