DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Grok 4.6: 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 80% cheaper on output tokens ($1.20 vs $6.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $156.00 a month versus $980.00 for Grok 4.6, 84% less. Roughly tied. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash scores 155.6 and Grok 4.6 scores 156.3 on the Epoch Capabilities Index, and their confidence intervals overlap.
Prices verified October 29, 2026.
Which should you choose?
Roughly tied. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash scores 155.6 and Grok 4.6 scores 156.3 on the Epoch Capabilities Index, and their confidence intervals overlap.
About even on FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3): 67.4% for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and 66.0% for Grok 4.6.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 input-to-output mix) vs $3.00 for Grok 4.6, 83% less.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash delivers statistically similar overall capability for 83% less.
Pricing and specs
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Grok 4.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | xAI |
| API model ID | deepseek-flash | grok-4.6 |
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.30 | $2.00 |
| Cached input / 1M tokens | $0.006 | $0.50 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $1.20 | $6.00 |
| Long-context rates | — | $4.00 in / $12.00 out above 200K prompt tokens |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 500K tokens |
| Max output | 384K tokens | — |
| Batch discount | — | — |
Benchmarks
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Grok 4.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 155.6 | 156.3 |
| GPQA Diamond· Science reasoning | 89.8% | 94.0% |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1–3)· Advanced math | 67.4% | 66.0% |
| SimpleQA Verified· Factual accuracy | 42.9% | 49.3% |
| ARC-AGI-2· Abstract reasoning | 72.9% | 67.1% |
| DeepSWE· Coding | — | 67.5% |
| APEX-Agents· Agentic work | 39.5% | 65.3% |
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 | Grok 4.6 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Support chatbot 100,000 replies a month, ~1,500 input tokens (system prompt + history) and ~400 output tokens each. | $93.00 | $540.00 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 83% cheaper |
Document Q&A (RAG) 50,000 questions a month with ~8,000 tokens of retrieved context and ~600 output tokens each. | $156.00 | $980.00 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 84% 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 | $500.00 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 88% 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 Grok 4.6 cost calculator
- $156.00/mo$0.0031 / request
- Grok 4.6xAI$980.00/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.
- Served by model version DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017; the legacy names deepseek-v4-flash and deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp route to it at the same price.
- 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.
Grok 4.6 pricing notes
xAI’s flagship model for code and everything else, with agentic tool calling and configurable reasoning.
- Requests with 200K or more prompt tokens are billed at $4 input / $1 cached / $12 output for all tokens.
- Web Search costs $5 per 1,000 calls; X Search is billed per item fetched, at $5 per 1,000 posts and $10 per 1,000 user profiles.
Frequently asked questions
- Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash cheaper than Grok 4.6?
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is 85% cheaper on input tokens ($0.30 vs $2.00 per 1M). DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is 80% cheaper on output tokens ($1.20 vs $6.00 per 1M). On our document Q&A workload (50,000 questions a month), DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $156.00 a month versus $980.00 for Grok 4.6, 84% less.
- Which is more capable, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or Grok 4.6?
- Roughly tied. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash scores 155.6 and Grok 4.6 scores 156.3 on the Epoch Capabilities Index, and their confidence intervals overlap.
- 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 Grok 4.6 cost per 1M tokens?
- Grok 4.6 costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $6.00 per 1M output tokens, and $0.50 per 1M cached input tokens on xAI’s standard tier.
- Which has the larger context window, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or Grok 4.6?
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash has the larger context window: 1M tokens versus 500K for Grok 4.6.