DeepSeek V3 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash

Name: DeepSeek V3
Author: DeepSeek

DeepSeek V3 (2024) and DeepSeek V4 Flash (2026) are frontier reasoning models from DeepSeek. DeepSeek V3 ships a 64k-token context window, while DeepSeek V4 Flash ships a 1m-token context window. On MMLU PRO, DeepSeek V4 Flash leads by 10.5 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 16x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and DeepSeek V3 for tighter calls.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first

Signal	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash	How to read it
Best for	tool-calling agents 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, Agents, and Classification	Coding, RAG, and Agents	Primary workload tags from local decision data.
Context window	64k	1m	Higher is better when prompts, retrieval chunks, or transcripts are large.
Cheapest output	$0.30/1M tokens	$0.12/1M tokens	Cheapest tracked provider route; verify your exact region and tier.
Provider routes	13 tracked	5 tracked	Broader coverage can reduce vendor lock-in and fallback risk.
Shared benchmarks	5 shared	MMLU PRO leader	Visible benchmark lead is 10.5 points on MMLU PRO.

Decision tradeoffs

Choose DeepSeek V3 when...

DeepSeek V3 holds a shared-benchmark lead on HumanEval, ahead by 16 points.
DeepSeek V3 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
Local decision data tags DeepSeek V3 for Coding, Agents, and Classification.

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash when...

DeepSeek V4 Flash holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 10.5 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 Reasoning 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 V3

$155

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Bitdeer AI

DeepSeek V4 Flash

$76.26

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $78.74. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

DeepSeek V3 -> DeepSeek V4 Flash

Provider overlap exists on DeepSeek Platform, OpenRouter, and Microsoft Foundry; start route-level A/B tests there.
DeepSeek V4 Flash is $0.18/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
DeepSeek V4 Flash adds Reasoning in local capability data.

DeepSeek V4 Flash -> DeepSeek V3

Provider overlap exists on DeepSeek Platform, Microsoft Foundry, and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
DeepSeek V3 is $0.18/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.

Specs

Specification	DeepSeek V3 DeepSeek	DeepSeek V4 Flash DeepSeek
Released	2024-12-26	2026-04-24
Context window	64k	1m
Parameters	671B	284B
Architecture	Mixture of Experts	Mixture of Experts
License	MITOSI-approved	MITOSI-approved
Openness	Open source	Open source
Weights	Available	Available
Code	Unknown	Unknown
Commercial use	Commercial use: permitted	Commercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff	2024-04	-

Pricing and availability

Pricing attribute	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash
Input price	$0.10/1M 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	$0.30/1M 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	DeepInfra Fireworks AI DeepSeek Platform Microsoft Foundry OpenRouter NVIDIA NIM	DeepSeek Platform OpenRouter Microsoft Foundry Vercel AI Gateway Novita AI

Capabilities

Capability	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash
Vision	No	No
Multimodal	No	No
Reasoning	No	Yes
JSON / Tool use	Yes	Yes
Structured outputs	Yes	Yes
Code execution	No	No
IDE integration	No	No
Computer use	No	No
Parallel agents	No	No

Benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash
MMLU PRO	75.9	86.4
LiveCodeBench	49.6	91.6
HumanEval	85.5	69.5
Chatbot Arena	1302.0	1437.0
Massive Multitask Language Understanding	88.5	88.7

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

Both models

DeepSeek V3 DeepSeek V4 Flash