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Van Data Team

text model comparison

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs Kimi K3.1 Pro

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro are both current text models, from DeepSeek and Moonshot Kimi. DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is 85% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Kimi K3.1 Pro, $0.30 vs $2. On Arena WebDev, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash scores 1665 Elo and Kimi K3.1 Pro 1695 Elo (Arena, measured October 28, 2026). Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,048,576 and 1,000,000).

Higher Arena WebDev
Kimi K3.1 Pro1695 Elo against 1665 Elo
Lower price per 1M input tokens
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash$0.30 against $2
Longer context window
Kimi K3.1 Pro1.05M tokens against 1M tokens
Newer release
Kimi K3.1 ProOct 2026 against Sep 2026

Data verified November 3, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-03

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Side by side

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro, line by line

Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.

FactDeepSeek-V4.1-FlashKimi K3.1 Pro
Price
Price per 1M input tokens$0.30 (better)$2
Price per 1M output tokens$1.20 (better)$10
Independent benchmarks
Arena WebDev1665 Elo (#12 of 45)1695 Elo (#6 of 45) (better)
Arena Text1476 Elo (#21 of 51)Not measured
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)71.2% (#23 of 42)Not measured
GPQA Diamond93.2% (#16 of 41)Not measured
SimpleQA Verified42.5% (#27 of 38)Not measured
Specs
ProviderDeepSeekMoonshot Kimi
Release dateSeptember 10, 2026October 23, 2026
AccessAPI and open weightsAPI only
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,048,576 tokens
Max output384,000 tokensNot reported
Inputtext, imagetext, image, video
Outputtexttext

Scores:Arena · 2026-11-03Epoch AI · 2026-11-03

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Charts

Against every current text model

Where DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.

Where each stands

On Arena WebDev, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash ranks #12 and Kimi K3.1 Pro #6 of 45 current models. Each bar is the share of current models it beats: on score, price and context.

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro among the current text models, one row per benchmark, price and context window.

Independent benchmarks

Arena Text

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#21of 51

1,476 Elo · ahead of 58%

Kimi K3.1 Pro: Not scored

Arena WebDev

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#12of 45

1,665 Elo · ahead of 75%

Kimi K3.1 Pro:#6of 45

1,695 Elo · ahead of 89%

FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#23of 42

71.2% · ahead of 46%

Kimi K3.1 Pro: Not scored

GPQA Diamond

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#16of 41

93.2% · ahead of 63%

Kimi K3.1 Pro: Not scored

SimpleQA Verified

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#27of 38

42.5% · ahead of 30%

Kimi K3.1 Pro: Not scored

Price and context

Price per 1M input tokens

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#11of 52

$0.30 · cheaper than 75%

Kimi K3.1 Pro:#29of 52

$2 · cheaper than 24%

Price per 1M output tokens

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#10of 52

$1.20 · cheaper than 76%

Kimi K3.1 Pro:#34of 52

$10 · cheaper than 25%

Context window

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash:#26of 64

1M tokens · longer than 22%

Kimi K3.1 Pro:#11of 64

1.05M tokens · longer than 67%

Scores fromArena · 2026-11-03Epoch AI · 2026-11-03

Quality against price

Arena Text · measured October 28, 2026

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash scores 1,476 at $0.525 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.

Quality against priceArena Text score against price for 43 text models, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro marked.1,2501,3001,3501,4001,4501,5001,550$0.30$1$3$10MOST ATTRACTIVE QUADRANTMedian price $3Median 1,475Blended price per 1M tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scaleArena Text (Elo)DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
Quality against price: the data
Arena Text score against price for 43 text models, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro marked.
ModelProviderBlended price per 1M tokensArena Text (Elo)
Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle$41,520
Claude Opus 5.5Anthropic$81,509
Muse WonderMeta$81,507
Claude Fable 5Anthropic$201,504
Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic$201,504
Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle$1.501,496
Muse Spark 1.3Meta$21,495
Claude Opus 5Anthropic$101,492
Kimi K3Moonshot Kimi$61,488
GPT-5.6 SolOpenAI$81,485
Gemini 3.6 FlashGoogle$31,483
GPT-5.5OpenAI$111,482
Claude Opus 4.8Anthropic$101,482
Qwen3.8-MaxAlibaba Qwen$31,482
GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI$41,481
GLM-5.3Z.ai$2.151,481
MiMo-V2.6-ProXiaomi MiMo$0.541,480
Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic$41,477
GLM-5.3-FlashZ.ai$0.241,477
GPT-6 AstraOpenAI$201,476
DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek$0.521,476
GPT-5.4OpenAI$5.631,475
Gemini 3 Flash PreviewGoogle$1.131,473
Grok 4.20xAI$1.561,472
GPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI$4.501,467
Grok 4.5xAI$31,465
DeepSeek-V4-ProDeepSeek$1.981,465
Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic$41,462
GPT-6 SolOpenAI$41,458
Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGoogle$0.851,456
Grok 4.6xAI$31,455
GPT-5.6 LunaOpenAI$0.451,453
MiMo-V2.6-FlashXiaomi MiMo$0.181,448
Step 5 PreviewStepFun$1.431,448
Grok 4.3xAI$1.561,442
GPT-6 LunaOpenAI$0.201,441
Grok 4.7xAI$31,441
Mistral Large 4Mistral AI$1.051,432
Claude Haiku 5.5Anthropic$0.201,425
GPT-4.1OpenAI$3.501,415
Solar Pro 4Upstage$0.521,388
GPT-4.1 miniOpenAI$0.701,383
GPT-4.1 nanoOpenAI$0.181,322

Cost

What each costs

Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.

The same work, priced

For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Kimi K3.1 Pro costs 7.4 times as much as DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash, at each provider's listed rates.

What DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro cost for the same work, at the rates each provider lists.

  • 10M input and 2M output tokens

    Kimi K3.1 Pro costs 7.4× as much

    DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
    $5.40
    Kimi K3.1 Pro
    $40

  • The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached

    Kimi K3.1 Pro costs 8.7× as much

    DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
    $2.75
    Kimi K3.1 Pro
    $23.80
Workload or rateDeepSeek-V4.1-FlashKimi K3.1 Pro
Example workloads
10M input and 2M output tokens$5.40 (better)$40
The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached$2.75 (better)$23.80
Other listed rates
1M input tokens, cached$0.006 (better)$0.20
1M input tokens, 5-minute cache writeNot listed$2
1M input tokens, 1-hour cache writeNot listed$4
1M input tokens, Highspeed endpointNot listed$4
1M output tokens, Highspeed endpointNot listed$20
1M input tokens, off peak$0.15Not listed
1M output tokens, off peak$0.60Not listed
1M input tokens, off-peak, cached$0.003Not listed

Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.

Launch price $100, regular price $150

Book the cost audit

Verdict

When to choose each

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash

Where it leads

  • Lower input and output prices, $0.30 and $1.20 vs $2 and $10 per 1M tokens
  • Open weights you can run yourself
  • Cheaper cached input, $0.006 vs $0.20 per 1M tokens

Best for

  • High-volume agent and multimodal workloads where per-token cost dominates
  • Teams that want a frontier-adjacent model they can also self-host under MIT terms

Watch out for

  • The recorded API rates are the peak-hour prices; DeepSeek charges half outside 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC on weekdays
  • Running the open weights moves cost to your own infrastructure, which the token rates here do not represent
  • Epoch AI and Arena WebDev scored build 1017, which the API serves; Arena Text has rated only the September build so far
Full DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash profile

Kimi K3.1 Pro

Where it leads

  • Higher Arena WebDev score, 1695 Elo vs 1665 Elo
  • Accepts video input

Best for

  • Long-horizon coding and agent work at mid-tier prices
  • Long documents, images and video in one 1M-token context

Watch out for

  • Thinking is always on: reasoning effort runs low, high or max, and max is the default
  • The Highspeed endpoint, two to three times faster by Moonshot's account, costs twice as much at $4 input and $20 output per 1M tokens
  • Weights are promised by 4 November 2026 and were not out on 3 November; Epoch AI and Arena Text have not scored it yet
Full Kimi K3.1 Pro profile

From benchmark to production

Building on DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro?

Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.

AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150What the audit includes

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FAQ

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs Kimi K3.1 Pro FAQ

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is 85% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Kimi K3.1 Pro, $0.30 vs $2. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash costs $5.40 and Kimi K3.1 Pro $40 at standard rates.

Which is cheaper with prompt caching, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash charges $0.006 per 1M cached input tokens, 98% below its standard input rate, and Kimi K3.1 Pro $0.20, 90% below. With 9M of 10M input tokens cached and 2M output tokens, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash costs $2.75 and Kimi K3.1 Pro $23.80.

Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro?

Kimi K3.1 Pro leads on Arena WebDev, 1695 Elo to 1665 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.

Which has the larger context window, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro?

Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,048,576 and 1,000,000).

How do DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro differ in features?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash takes text and image input; Kimi K3.1 Pro takes text, image and video.

Can I run DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash or Kimi K3.1 Pro myself?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash is released as open weights you can run yourself; Kimi K3.1 Pro is available through its provider's API only.

Further reading

More on DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro

Articles on DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro

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Production evaluation

Choosing between DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi K3.1 Pro?

Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.

  • A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
  • Routing between models by cost and difficulty
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