DeepSeek V4 vs Gemini 3.1
DeepSeek's open-weight flagship (v4-pro · v4-flash) against Google's multimodal flagship (ultra · pro tiers) — published pricing, context windows and specs, side by side.
DeepSeek V4 vs Gemini 3.1: side-by-side
| DeepSeek V4 | Gemini 3.1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | DeepSeek | |
| Released | 24 April 2026 | April 2026 |
| Tier | Open-weight flagship (V4-Pro · V4-Flash) | Multimodal flagship (Ultra · Pro tiers) |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (both tiers) | 2,000,000 tokens — largest publicly available |
| Max output | Not specified | Not specified |
| API price (per 1M) | $1.74 / $3.48 (V4-Pro) · $0.14 / $0.28 (V4-Flash) per 1M | ~$2 / $12 per 1M tokens (3.1 Pro) |
| Access | Open weights — MIT licence, on Hugging Face & ModelScope (V4-Pro 1.6T params / 49B active; V4-Flash 284B / 13B active) | Proprietary — Gemini API (Google) · consumer plan $19.99/month |
| Best at | Coding, competitive programming, low-cost agentic work | Multimodal understanding, very long documents, media analysis |
| Standout | Largest open-weights model of 2026 — MIT-licensed 1.6T-param MoE | Native video, audio and text in one pass + sandboxed Python execution |
Price comparison
| Model | Input (per 1M) | Output (per 1M) |
|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4-Flash | $0.14 | $0.28 |
| DeepSeek V4-Pro | $1.74 | $3.48 |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro (approx.) | ~$2.00 | ~$12.00 |
Estimate your monthly API cost for DeepSeek V4 vs Gemini 3.1 with the LLM API pricing calculator →
Published benchmark figures
Each figure below is the model's own published score as listed on its AI Model Hub page. Different suites (and suite versions) are not directly comparable.
| Model | Benchmark | Published score |
|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4 | SWE-bench Verified | 80.6% |
| DeepSeek V4 | Codeforces rating | 3,206 |
What the table says
- Pricing. DeepSeek V4 lists at $1.74 / $3.48 (V4-Pro) · $0.14 / $0.28 (V4-Flash) per 1M; Gemini 3.1 lists at ~$2 / $12 per 1M tokens (3.1 Pro). On these published rates, DeepSeek V4's input price is roughly 1.1x lower than Gemini 3.1's, and DeepSeek V4's output price is roughly 3.4x lower than Gemini 3.1's. DeepSeek V4-Flash lists even lower, at $0.14 / $0.28 per 1M tokens.
- Context. Gemini 3.1's context window (2,000,000 tokens — largest publicly available) is about 2x the size of DeepSeek V4's (1,000,000 tokens (both tiers)).
- Access. DeepSeek V4 publishes open weights (MIT licence), so it can be self-hosted; Gemini 3.1 is proprietary and available only through hosted APIs and apps.
- Benchmarks. The two model pages report results on different benchmark suites, so the published scores are not directly comparable head-to-head; the tables below list each model's own published figures.
Key takeaway
Everything above is drawn from the two models' published rate cards and spec sheets. Which one fits depends on the workload you price it against — run your own token volumes through the pricing calculator to see the monthly difference.
Full DeepSeek V4 overview Full Gemini 3.1 overview
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or Gemini 3.1?
DeepSeek V4 — it lists at $1.74 / $3.48 (V4-Pro) · $0.14 / $0.28 (V4-Flash) per 1M versus ~$2 / $12 per 1M tokens (3.1 Pro) for Gemini 3.1 (Gemini 3.1 Pro pricing is approximate).
Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek V4 or Gemini 3.1?
Gemini 3.1 — 2,000,000 tokens — largest publicly available, versus 1,000,000 tokens (both tiers) for DeepSeek V4.
Which model is newer?
DeepSeek V4 is the more recent release (24 April 2026); Gemini 3.1 was released April 2026.
Can I run DeepSeek V4 or Gemini 3.1 locally?
Only DeepSeek V4 — it publishes open weights under the MIT licence. Gemini 3.1 is proprietary and only available via hosted APIs and apps.
Related comparisons
- Gemini 3.5 Flash vs Gemini 3.1 →
- GPT-5.5 vs Gemini 3.1 →
- DeepSeek V4 vs GPT-5.5 →
- Kimi K2.6 vs DeepSeek V4 →