TL;DR — near-identical input ($0.15 vs $0.14) but DeepSeek V4 Flash's output is half GPT-4o-mini's ($0.28 vs $0.60). 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 | |-------|----------|-------|--------| | GPT-4o-mini | OpenAI | $0.15 | $0.6 | | DeepSeek V4 Flash | DeepSeek | $0.14 | $0.28 |
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:
- GPT-4o-mini: $2.70
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: $1.96
On this mix, DeepSeek V4 Flash is the cheaper column (1.4× gap). Your ratio will differ — run your own mix through the LLM cost calculator.
Choose GPT-4o-mini if
ecosystem and track record: mini's ubiquity in tooling and evals is worth something at prices this low.
Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash if
output-heavy bulk generation: with input effectively tied, DeepSeek's 53% cheaper output decides any workload that writes more than it reads.
Routing decision card
- Input:output ratio is the whole decision — output-heavy → DeepSeek, input-heavy → coin flip
- Availability and latency from your region matter more than the residual price gap; measure both
- Floor-tier redundancy: run both as interchangeable fallbacks in the bulk lane
- 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.
Per-model detail: GPT-4o-mini deep dive
Part of the LLM model comparison index. Prices move fast in 2026 — the tracker logs every change with dates.