DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs DeepSeek V4 Flash
Two chat models compared on price, context, capabilities and measured speed. External prices are public list rates verified 2026-09-16; Inference APIs prices are live.
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | DeepSeek V4 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | DeepSeek |
| Model id | deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4-Flash |
| Input price | $0.40 / 1M tokens | $0.19 / 1M tokens |
| Output price | $1.60 / 1M tokens | $0.38 / 1M tokens |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Capabilities | Chat, Reasoning, Tool calling, JSON mode, 1M context | Chat, Reasoning, Coding, Tool calling, 1M context |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Availability | Available on Inference APIs | Available on Inference APIs |
| Rate limits | No daily caps; pay per request | No daily caps; pay per request |
| Time to first token | 0.41 s | 1.42 s |
| Output speed | 388.7 tokens / s | 55 tokens / s |
Cost for 1M input + 1M output tokens
DeepSeek V4 Flash is about 72% cheaper for this workload at list price.
Measured speed
Speed figures for Inference APIs models are medians of three runs from a European client on 2026-09-16, against the public endpoint, using a ~120-word generation prompt (chat), a 300-character paragraph (speech) or a -second clip (transcription). External models are not measured here; treat "not measured" as unknown, not slow.
When to pick which
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash — The newest DeepSeek Flash model: better reasoning and tool use than V4 Flash, still with a 1M-token context.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash — DeepSeek's fast, inexpensive V4 model with a 1M-token context. Strong general assistant and coding model at the lowest price per token here.
Try DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Same OpenAI request shape; the change is the base URL and key. Full parameters, aliases and pricing on the model page.
curl https://api.inferenceapis.com/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $INFERENCE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash",
"messages": [
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
{"role": "user", "content": "Hello! What can you do?"}
]
}'
import os
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.inferenceapis.com/v1",
api_key=os.environ["INFERENCE_API_KEY"],
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash",
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
{"role": "user", "content": "Hello! What can you do?"},
],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI({
baseURL: "https://api.inferenceapis.com/v1",
apiKey: process.env.INFERENCE_API_KEY,
});
const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash",
messages: [
{ role: "system", content: "You are a helpful assistant." },
{ role: "user", content: "Hello! What can you do?" },
],
});
console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);
External prices and limits come from the linked provider pages and were verified on 2026-09-16. Spotted a change? Tell us.
