DeepSeek V4-Flash vs Gemini 3.5 Flash — the two cheapest fast models, compared on real cost. Below is the full side-by-side: specifications, API pricing, context window, local hardware requirements, and a clear, data-driven recommendation on which to pick.
| Spec | DeepSeek V4-Flash | Gemini 3.5 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | DeepSeek | |
| Type | LLM (MoE) | LLM (multimodal) |
| Parameters | 284B total / ~13B active (MoE) | Undisclosed |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Modality | Text → Text | Text, Image, Audio, Video → Text |
| License | MIT (open) | Proprietary |
| Open weights | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Input price ($/1M) | $0.14 | $1.50 |
| Output price ($/1M) | $0.28 | $9.00 |
| VRAM (4-bit) | ~140 GB | — |
| Min GPU (local) | 2× H100 80GB (4-bit) | — |
| Released | 2026-04 | 2026 |
Key differences
- Cost: DeepSeek V4-Flash is 1829% cheaper than Gemini 3.5 Flash on a blended-token basis.
- Openness: DeepSeek V4-Flash is open-weight (self-hostable, private, fine-tunable); Gemini 3.5 Flash is proprietary (API-only, but fully managed).
- Run DeepSeek V4-Flash locally: ~~140 GB at 4-bit (min 2× H100 80GB (4-bit)).
Which should you choose?
Choose DeepSeek V4-Flash if you want the lower per-token cost for high-volume workloads, or you want to self-host, fine-tune, or keep data fully private.
Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash if you prefer a fully managed API with no infrastructure to run.
→ Estimate real costs in the API cost calculator · check local hardware in the VRAM calculator · browse all 30+ models.
All specs and prices are pulled live from our AI models database and kept current. Compare either model against others, or estimate your own monthly spend with the free calculators above.