DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs Qwen3.8 Flash
Official DeepSeek and Qwen API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-10-29. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
Qwen3.8 Flash costs less; quality is n/a.
Qwen3.8 Flash is 2x cheaper on input and 2.6x cheaper on output. LMArena has no task both models are ranked on, so quality is n/a here. A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $12 on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and $5.35 on Qwen3.8 Flash.
- Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash if nothing here clearly favors it (no lower bill, bigger context, cheaper cache or LMArena lead of 3+ points over Qwen3.8 Flash).
- Pick Qwen3.8 Flash if you want the lower bill ($5.35 vs $12 for a medium month).
Medium: 20M input + 5M output tokens a month at list price (short-context rate, no caching or batch discounts).
Marked side is better: lower for prices, higher for context and scores. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two.
| Spec | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Qwen3.8 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $0.30 | $0.15 |
| Cached input | $0.006 | None |
| Output | $1.20 | $0.47 |
| Blend 3:1 | $0.525 | $0.23 |
| Sample month, medium | $12 | $5.35 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 46/100 #12 of 50 | Not ranked |
| Chat | 17/100 #18 of 51 | Not ranked |
| Creative writing | 0/100 #22 of 51 | Not ranked |
| Roleplay and characters | 0/100 #24 of 51 | Not ranked |
| Reasoning and math | 40/100 #14 of 51 | Not ranked |
| Vision | 14/100 #19 of 33 | Not ranked |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | 50/100 #16 of 34 | Not ranked |
| Details | ||
| Provider | DeepSeek | Qwen |
| API model id | deepseek-flash | qwen3.8-flash |
| Notes | Peak rate. Off-peak is half price. | International (Singapore). Alibaba lists the cache-hit price only in the Model Studio console. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-29 |
| Official pricing | DeepSeek pricing | Qwen pricing |
Plans from data checked hourly against each vendor's official pricing page. Vendors state limits in different units, so we quote them as published. Team and enterprise plans are per seat.
API prices in USD per 1M tokens from each provider's official pricing page. Blend 3:1 = (3 x input + output) / 4. Sample month = stated input and output tokens at the list price, no caching. Quality: relative score out of 100 on each LMArena leaderboard (100 = top model we price on that board, n/a = not ranked there), data licensed CC BY 4.0. See how we pick.
Where each one ranks on LMArena
Relative score out of 100 on each leaderboard (100 = the top model we price there), with the rank among the models from our API price table that appear on that board.
- Coding (Code Arena): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #12 of 50 (46/100), Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
- Chat (Text Arena): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #18 of 51 (17/100), Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #22 of 51 (0/100), Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #24 of 51 (0/100), Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #14 of 51 (40/100), Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
- Vision (Vision Arena): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #19 of 33 (14/100), Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
- Long documents (Document Arena): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash not ranked, Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #16 of 34 (50/100), Qwen3.8 Flash not ranked
Pricing details from the official pages
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash lists $0.30 input, $1.20 output, $0.006 cached input per 1M tokens on DeepSeek pricing. Qwen3.8 Flash lists $0.15 input, $0.47 output per 1M tokens on Qwen pricing. Prices checked 2026-10-29.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: Peak rate. Off-peak is half price.
- Qwen3.8 Flash: International (Singapore). Alibaba lists the cache-hit price only in the Model Studio console.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $1.20 vs $0.535. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $12 vs $5.35. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $120 vs $53.50.
FAQ
Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash cheaper than Qwen3.8 Flash?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.30 input and $1.20 output per 1M tokens; Qwen3.8 Flash costs $0.15 and $0.47. For a medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) Qwen3.8 Flash is cheaper: $5.35 vs $12.
Which is better for coding, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or Qwen3.8 Flash?
Code Arena score: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 46/100, Qwen3.8 Flash n/a (not ranked). We do not guess missing scores.
Which has the bigger context window?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: 1M tokens. Qwen3.8 Flash: 1M tokens. Both list the same window.
How much do DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and Qwen3.8 Flash cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $1.20 vs $0.535. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $12 vs $5.35. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $120 vs $53.50. Pick your own token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
Where do these numbers come from?
Prices come from each provider's official pricing page, checked daily. Quality is the relative score on the LMArena leaderboard dataset, licensed CC BY 4.0. Where a model is not ranked we show n/a.
Sources
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