DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon: pricing and benchmarks
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is 85% cheaper on input tokens ($0.30 vs $2.00 per 1M). DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is 88% cheaper on output tokens ($1.20 vs $10.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $156.00 a month versus $1,100 for Gemini 4 Argon, 86% less. Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 155.6 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.
Prices verified October 17, 2026.
Which should you choose?
Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 155.6 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.
Gemini 4 Argon scores 86.0% on FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3) vs 67.4% for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 input-to-output mix) vs $4.00 for Gemini 4 Argon, 87% less.
A trade-off: Gemini 4 Argon is 9.0 ECI points more capable but costs 7.6x as much as DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.
Pricing and specs
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | |
| API model ID | deepseek-flash | gemini-4-argon |
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.30 | $2.00 |
| Cached input / 1M tokens | $0.006 | $0.10 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $1.20 | $10.00 |
| Long-context rates | — | — |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1.05M tokens |
| Max output | 384K tokens | 66K tokens |
| Batch discount | — | 50% off |
Benchmarks
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 155.6 | 164.6 |
| GPQA Diamond· Science reasoning | 89.8% | 96.4% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3)· Advanced math | 67.4% | 86.0% |
| SimpleQA Verified· Factual accuracy | 42.9% | 76.0% |
| ARC-AGI-2· Abstract reasoning | 72.9% | — |
| DeepSWE· Coding | — | — |
| APEX-Agents· Agentic work | 39.5% | 82.4% |
Source: Epoch AI, best recorded result per model (CC BY 4.0). A dash means no published score. See all benchmarks
Monthly cost for real workloads
| Workload | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Gemini 4 Argon | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Support chatbot 100,000 replies a month, ~1,500 input tokens (system prompt + history) and ~400 output tokens each. | $93.00 | $700.00 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 87% cheaper |
Document Q&A (RAG) 50,000 questions a month with ~8,000 tokens of retrieved context and ~600 output tokens each. | $156.00 | $1,100 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 86% cheaper |
Coding agent 10,000 agent steps a month, ~40,000 input tokens each (70% read from the prompt cache) and ~2,000 output tokens. | $61.68 | $468.00 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 87% cheaper |
Estimates use standard list prices and ignore cache-write surcharges. Different tokenizers can count the same text differently, so test with your own prompts.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Gemini 4 Argon cost calculator
- $156.00/mo$0.0031 / request
- Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle$1,100/mo$0.02 / request
Standard-tier list prices. Long-context rates apply automatically where the provider publishes a threshold. Excludes cache-write surcharges, taxes, batch and volume discounts.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash pricing notes
DeepSeek’s low-cost model with thinking and non-thinking modes, tool calls and vision input.
- Prices shown are peak rates. Off-peak rates are half: peak hours are 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday.
- Compatible with both OpenAI-format and Anthropic-format APIs.
- Web Search and Fetch cost $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests each; calls made through Claude Code, Codex or DeepSeek Harness are free until November 1, 2026.
Gemini 4 Argon pricing notes
Google’s flagship reasoning model for complex coding, agents, math and science.
- Introductory price through November 30, 2026. From December 1, 2026: $4 input, $0.20 cached, $20 output per 1M tokens.
- Not available on the Gemini API free tier.
- Output price includes thinking tokens.
- Max output is 65,536 tokens by default and up to 1,048,576 with long decode.
- Implicit caching only; explicit context caching is not supported.
- Priority inference costs 1.8x the standard rate.
Frequently asked questions
- Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash cheaper than Gemini 4 Argon?
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is 85% cheaper on input tokens ($0.30 vs $2.00 per 1M). DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is 88% cheaper on output tokens ($1.20 vs $10.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $156.00 a month versus $1,100 for Gemini 4 Argon, 86% less.
- Which is more capable, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 4 Argon scores 164.6 on the Epoch Capabilities Index vs 155.6 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.
- How much does DeepSeek V4.1 Flash cost per 1M tokens?
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $1.20 per 1M output tokens, and $0.006 per 1M cached input tokens on DeepSeek’s standard tier.
- How much does Gemini 4 Argon cost per 1M tokens?
- Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $10.00 per 1M output tokens, and $0.10 per 1M cached input tokens on Google’s standard tier.
- Which has the larger context window, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 4 Argon has the larger context window: 1.05M tokens versus 1M for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.