DeepSeek Launches the Most Affordable AI Model Among Leading Competitors

SINGAPORE — Chinese startup DeepSeek’s flagship AI model is the least expensive to run among well-known models globally, according to research firm Artificial Analysis, with its V4-Flash model priced at $0.14 per million input tokens and $0.28 per million output tokens.

The firm estimated V4-Flash’s average cost at 3 cents per test, compared with 86 cents for Kimi K3 from Chinese rival Moonshot AI, $1.86 for OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol, and $3.15 for Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5.

DeepSeek, which sources say is preparing for a potential IPO, officially released V4-Flash on Friday. The startup’s R1 model became a global sensation in early 2025, triggering a selloff in global technology stocks and raising questions about US AI spending.

The comparison provides a more realistic measure of value than pricing alone, accounting for the amount of data a model must process to complete a task. Artificial Analysis said V4-Flash scored 50 out of 100 on its Intelligence Index, the same score as Google’s Gemini 3.6 Flash and one point behind Meta’s Muse Spark 1.1.

Moonshot’s Kimi K3 scored 57, while Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5 and OpenAI GPT-5.6 scored nine or more points higher.

DeepSeek is preparing a more powerful version, V4-Pro, though no release date has been announced. Separately, Alibaba unveiled its largest model to date, Qwen3.8-Max, as Chinese firms continue competing with US tech companies for global adoption.

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