DeepSeek V4 Flash vs GPT-5.4 Mini

DeepSeek V4 Flash and GPT-5.4 Mini are both current production-tier models. DeepSeek V4 Flash is meaningfully cheaper at $0.14 / $0.28 per 1M. DeepSeek V4 Flash has a 1M context window — about 3× the 400k of GPT-5.4 Mini. DeepSeek V4 Flash leads on coding, reasoning. GPT-5.4 Mini leads on instruction following.

Specs side by side

Metric
DeepSeek
DeepSeek V4 Flash
OpenAI
GPT-5.4 Mini
Input price (per 1M)$0.14$0.75
Output price (per 1M)$0.28$4.5
Context window1M tokens400k tokens
Speed tierbalancedfast
Open weightsYesNo
EU regionNoYes
Free tierOpenRouterNo
Prompt cachingYesYes
Vision inputNoYes
Extended thinkingYesYes

When to choose each

DeepSeek Free tier

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash if…

  • Cost is a priority ($0.14 / $0.28 per 1M vs $0.75 / $4.5 per 1M)
  • You need 1M context (3× more than GPT-5.4 Mini)
  • You need open weights for self-hosting or fine-tuning
  • You want a free tier for prototyping
  • Coding is central to your workload
  • Reasoning is central to your workload
OpenAI

Choose GPT-5.4 Mini if…

  • EU data residency is required
  • HIPAA eligibility is required
  • You need image input / vision
  • Instruction following is central to your workload

Benchmark delta

DeepSeek V4 Flash leads on

  • Coding
  • Reasoning

GPT-5.4 Mini leads on

  • Instruction following

FAQ — DeepSeek V4 Flash vs GPT-5.4 Mini

DeepSeek V4 Flash vs GPT-5.4 Mini — which is better?

DeepSeek V4 Flash and GPT-5.4 Mini are both current production-tier models. DeepSeek V4 Flash is meaningfully cheaper at $0.14 / $0.28 per 1M. DeepSeek V4 Flash has a 1M context window — about 3× the 400k of GPT-5.4 Mini. DeepSeek V4 Flash leads on coding, reasoning. GPT-5.4 Mini leads on instruction following. The right pick depends on your use case — see "When to choose each" above for a data-driven decision.

How does DeepSeek V4 Flash pricing compare to GPT-5.4 Mini?

DeepSeek V4 Flash costs $0.14 / $0.28 per 1M vs GPT-5.4 Mini at $0.75 / $4.5 per 1M. DeepSeek V4 Flash is cheaper on output tokens by roughly 1507%. Both support prompt caching, which reduces effective cost by 80-90% on repeat system prompts.

Does DeepSeek V4 Flash or GPT-5.4 Mini have the bigger context window?

DeepSeek V4 Flash has a 1M-token context window — 3× the 400k context of GPT-5.4 Mini. Enough for entire codebases, books, or multi-document RAG.

Is there a free tier for DeepSeek V4 Flash or GPT-5.4 Mini?

DeepSeek V4 Flash: yes — Often available free via OpenRouter; official API is extremely cheap ($0.14 cache miss, $0.0028 cached input). GPT-5.4 Mini: no — Near-free at $0.75/$4.50 per 1M; starter credits only.

Which is better for coding — DeepSeek V4 Flash or GPT-5.4 Mini?

DeepSeek V4 Flash leads on coding benchmarks (DeepSeek V4 Flash: 89/100, GPT-5.4 Mini: 84/100). For production coding agents also weigh tool-use performance — DeepSeek V4 Flash scores 84, GPT-5.4 Mini scores 86.