DeepSeek V3 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp

Pick up to 3 models · pricing, context and capabilities · simulate your product cost

Data updated on September 30, 2026· 217 models

DeepSeekDeepSeek V3

DeepSeek-V3 is the latest model from the DeepSeek team, building upon the instruction following and coding abilities of the previous versions.

View sheet →

Reasoning estimated
Speed estimated
Input
Output
Context
164 K tokens
Max output
16 K
Input, $ per 1M tokens
$0.257
Output, $ per 1M tokens
$1.03
Cache read, $ per 1M
$0.028
Batch (input / output)
—
Tool calling
Yes
Released
12/01/2025
Knowledge cutoff
2025-09
API id
deepseek/deepseek-chat
DeepSeekVision Exp

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is an experimental vision-enabled version of DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 from DeepSeek, adding image understanding while matching the base model on text capabilities including agents,...

View sheet →

Reasoning estimated
▲
Speed estimated
▲
Input
Output
Context
▲1 M tokens
Max output
▲262 K
Input, $ per 1M tokens
▲$0.216
Output, $ per 1M tokens
▲$0.647
Cache read, $ per 1M
$0.007
Batch (input / output)
—
Tool calling
Yes
Released
▲08/21/2026
Knowledge cutoff
—
API id
deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp
Third model (optional)
text image audio video PDF / file reasoning (1 to 5, estimated by family) speed (1 to 4, estimated by family)▲ best value among the selected

Which is the better API choice: DeepSeek V3 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp?

  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: cheapest input (16% less than DeepSeek V3)
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: cheapest output
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: largest context (1 M)
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: the newest (08/21/2026)
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: most reasoning (estimated)
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: the fastest (estimated)

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp costs 16% less on input and 37% less on output than DeepSeek V3 ($0.216 / $0.647 versus $0.257 / $1.03 per million tokens). DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp accepts more context (1 M). On capabilities, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp accepts images; DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp has a reasoning mode.

What would your product cost?

Estimate the monthly cost with your app's real volume. List prices, no cache or batch discounts.

DeepSeek V3
$7.98/mo
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp
$5.82/mo

With DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp you save $2.15 a month versus DeepSeek V3 (27% less).

The 6 cheapest for this scenario (chat, last 12 months)

  1. 1Lyria 3 Pro Preview Google$0.00
  2. 2Lyria 3 Clip Preview Google$0.00
  3. 3Qwen3.7 Flash Qwen$0.97
  4. 4DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 DeepSeek$1.55
  5. 5Ministral 3 3B 2512 Mistral$1.90
  6. 6Qwen3.5-Flash Qwen$2.02

Paste your prompt: tokens and cost per model

Rough estimate (about 4 characters per token). Nothing is sent to any server.

76tokens approx.287 characters

Cost of sending it 1,000 times (input only)

  1. 1DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp DeepSeek$0.016
  2. 2DeepSeek V3 DeepSeek$0.020
  3. 3Claude Sonnet 5.5 Anthropic$0.152
  4. 4Claude Sonnet 5 Anthropic$0.152
  5. 5Claude Opus 5.5 Anthropic$0.304
  6. 6Claude Opus 5 Anthropic$0.380
  7. 7Claude Fable 5.1 Anthropic$0.760
  8. 8Claude Fable 5 Anthropic$0.760

Popular comparisons

Frequently asked questions

Which is the better API choice: DeepSeek V3 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp?

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp costs 16% less on input and 37% less on output than DeepSeek V3 ($0.216 / $0.647 versus $0.257 / $1.03 per million tokens). DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp accepts more context (1 M). On capabilities, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp accepts images; DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp has a reasoning mode.

Which is cheaper: DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp?

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is cheaper: $0.216 per million input tokens and $0.647 per million output tokens, versus $0.257 / $1.03 for DeepSeek V3.

Which has more context: DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp?

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp accepts 1 M tokens of context; DeepSeek V3 accepts 164 K.

Which is newer: DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp?

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp was released on 08/21/2026; DeepSeek V3 on 12/01/2025.

What would 10,000 requests a month cost with DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp?

With 1,500 input and 400 output tokens per request: DeepSeek V3: $7.98; DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp: $5.82 a month, at list price.

Where do the prices come from and how often are they updated?

From the public catalogs of OpenRouter, models.dev and LiteLLM, which publish each provider's list prices. They sync once a day and the last update date is shown above the comparison.

What does price per million tokens mean?

It is what the provider charges per million tokens you send (input) or the model generates (output). A token is roughly 4 characters. Output almost always costs more than input.

Sources: OpenRouter, models.dev and LiteLLM. Prices in USD per million tokens, list price, no volume discounts. Prompt tokens are an estimate; each provider's tokenizer may differ.