LLM Reference

DeepSeek V4 Flash vs o3 Mini

DeepSeek V4 Flash (2026) and o3 Mini (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from DeepSeek and OpenAI. DeepSeek V4 Flash ships a 1m-token context window, while o3 Mini ships a 200k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, DeepSeek V4 Flash leads by 7.3 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 5x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and o3 Mini for tighter calls.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalDeepSeek V4 Flasho3 Mini
Best forreasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and long-context analysisreasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window1m200k
Cheapest output$0.12/1M tokens$4.40/1M tokens
Provider routes5 tracked4 tracked
Shared benchmarksMMLU PRO leader4 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash when...
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 7.3 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 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • Local decision data tags DeepSeek V4 Flash for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose o3 Mini when...
  • o3 Mini uniquely exposes Code execution in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags o3 Mini 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

DeepSeek V4 Flash

$76.26

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

o3 Mini

$1,980

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $1,904. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

DeepSeek V4 Flash -> o3 Mini
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • o3 Mini is $4.28/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • o3 Mini adds Code execution in local capability data.
o3 Mini -> DeepSeek V4 Flash
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash is $4.28/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.

Specs

Specification
Released2026-04-242025-01-31
Context window1m200k
Parameters284B—
ArchitectureMixture of ExpertsDecoder Only
LicenseMITOSI-approvedProprietary
OpennessOpen sourceProprietary
WeightsAvailableNot released
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: conditional
Knowledge cutoff-2025-04

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeDeepSeek V4 Flasho3 Mini
Input price
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.
$1.10/1M tokens
Output price
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.
$4.40/1M tokens
Providers
DeepSeek PlatformOpenRouterMicrosoft FoundryVercel AI GatewayNovita AI
OpenRouterAzure OpenAIOpenAI APIVercel AI Gateway

Capabilities

CapabilityDeepSeek V4 Flasho3 Mini
VisionNoNo
MultimodalNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
JSON / Tool useYesYes
Structured outputsYesYes
Code executionNoYes
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flasho3 Mini
MMLU PRO86.479.1
SWE-bench Verified79.049.3
Google-Proof Q&A88.179.7
Chatbot Arena1437.01335.0

Continue comparing

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