TL;DR — a genuine crossover: Gemini 3 Pro wins input ($1.25 vs $1.74), DeepSeek V4 Pro wins output ($3.48 vs $5.00). Every number below is from our weekly-verified pricing tracker (verified 2026-08-26).
Pricing side by side (per 1M tokens, USD)
| Model | Provider | Input | Output | |-------|----------|-------|--------| | DeepSeek V4 Pro | DeepSeek | $1.74 | $3.48 | | Gemini 3 Pro | Google | $1.25 | $5 |
Verified 2026-08-26 against official rate cards — the tracker keeps the change log.
What a real month costs
At a standard workload of 10M input + 2M output tokens/month:
- DeepSeek V4 Pro: $24.36
- Gemini 3 Pro: $22.50
On this mix, Gemini 3 Pro is the cheaper column (1.1× gap). Your ratio will differ — run your own mix through the LLM cost calculator.
Choose DeepSeek V4 Pro if
generation-heavy reasoning — DeepSeek's 30% cheaper output takes over the bill once output share climbs past roughly a third of tokens.
Choose Gemini 3 Pro if
input-heavy reasoning over long contexts — Gemini's input edge plus Google-side long-context handling favors read-mostly analysis.
Routing decision card
- One of the few pairs where neither wins on paper — your input:output ratio literally decides the cheaper model
- Value-tier A/B worth running: both clear the reasoning bar for most mid-difficulty work
- Keep both in the pool and let per-request routing capture each side's edge
- The router answer: most teams shouldn't hard-pick one — ClawRouters routes each request to whichever side fits it, so the comparison becomes a per-call decision instead of a bet.
Part of the LLM model comparison index. Prices move fast in 2026 — the tracker logs every change with dates.