LLM Reference

DeepSeek V4 Flash vs ShieldGemma 9B

DeepSeek V4 Flash (2026) and ShieldGemma 9B (2024) are frontier reasoning models from DeepSeek and Google DeepMind. DeepSeek V4 Flash ships a 1m-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 V4 Flash fits 125x more tokens; pick it for long-context work and ShieldGemma 9B for tighter calls.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalDeepSeek V4 FlashShieldGemma 9B
Best forreasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and long-context analysisgeneral production evaluation
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsClassification
Context window1m8k
Cheapest output$0.12/1M tokens-
Provider routes5 tracked1 tracked
Shared benchmarks0 shared0 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash when...
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash uniquely exposes Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Structured outputs in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags DeepSeek V4 Flash for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose ShieldGemma 9B when...
  • 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 V4 Flash

$76.26

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

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

DeepSeek V4 Flash -> ShieldGemma 9B
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for DeepSeek V4 Flash and ShieldGemma 9B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • Check replacement coverage for Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
ShieldGemma 9B -> DeepSeek V4 Flash
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for ShieldGemma 9B and DeepSeek V4 Flash; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash adds Reasoning, JSON / Tool use, and Structured outputs in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2026-04-242024-07-01
Context window1m8k
Parameters284B9B
ArchitectureMixture of ExpertsDecoder Only
LicenseMITOSI-approvedGemma
OpennessOpen sourceOpen weights
WeightsAvailableUnknown
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: conditional
Knowledge cutoff--

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeDeepSeek V4 FlashShieldGemma 9B
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.
-
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.
-
Providers

Capabilities

CapabilityDeepSeek V4 FlashShieldGemma 9B
VisionNoNo
MultimodalNoNo
ReasoningYesNo
JSON / Tool useYesNo
Structured outputsYesNo
Code executionNoNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.

Continue comparing

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