Comparison · 9 min · 2 citations
DeepSeek vs Gemini API Pricing 2026: Per-Token Cost Compared
DeepSeek vs Gemini API pricing 2026: DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens at peak, half off-peak; Gemini 3.8 Flash is $0.75/$3.75.
DeepSeek is cheaper than Gemini's workhorse tier. DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is $0.30 input (cache miss) / $1.20 output per million tokens at peak and half that off-peak; Gemini 3.8 Flash is $0.75 / $3.75 on a promotional rate through December 31, 2026, then $1.50 / $7.50[1][2]. On output that is about 3 times cheaper at peak and 6 times off-peak today, twice that after the promotion. Google's previous-generation Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite at $0.10 / $0.40, still offered, undercuts DeepSeek on both input and output.
DeepSeek wins on cost against Gemini's Flash and Pro tiers; Gemini buys data residency, documented long-context tiers, video and audio input, and Google Cloud integration. DeepSeek now charges by time of day, so the hour your jobs run sets half the bill.
DeepSeek and Gemini sit at opposite ends of the cost-versus-platform trade. DeepSeek V4.1-Flash prices text at $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens at peak, undercutting Gemini 3.8 Flash ($0.75 / $3.75 on promotion) about three times over on output. This article lays out the verified rates, DeepSeek's peak-hour pricing and Gemini's context tiers, and runs both through the margin calculator so the cost gap shows up as gross margin on a real SaaS.
1. The per-token rate table
Standard rates per million tokens, read from both official pricing pages on October 18, 2026 (DeepSeek at peak; off-peak is half). Google deprecated Gemini 3.5 Flash on October 8, 2026 and routes its requests to a newer Flash model, so the Flash row is Gemini 3.8 Flash.
| Tier | DeepSeek model | Input / Output | Gemini model | Input / Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workhorse | DeepSeek V4.1-Flash[1] | $0.30 / $1.20 | Gemini 3.8 Flash, promotional to Dec 31, 2026[2] | $0.75 / $3.75 (then $1.50 / $7.50) |
| Cheapest tier | DeepSeek V4.1-Flash, off-peak[1] | $0.15 / $0.60 | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, previous generation[2] | $0.10 / $0.40 |
| Current budget tier | — | — | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite[2] | $0.30 / $2.50 |
| Cache hit (input) | V4.1-Flash cache hit[1] | $0.006 | Gemini 3.8 Flash cached, plus hourly storage[2] | $0.075 |
| Reasoning / pro | DeepSeek V4-Pro[1] | $1.32 / $3.96 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (≤200k)[2] | $2.00 / $12.00 |
| Flagship | — | — | Gemini 4 Argon, promotional to Nov 30, 2026[2] | $2.00 / $10.00 (then $4.00 / $20.00) |
| Pro, long context | One rate up to its 1M-token window | — | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (>200k)[2] | $4.00 / $18.00 |
The headline gap is on output. DeepSeek V4.1-Flash output at $1.20 against Gemini 3.8 Flash at $3.75 is a 3.1x difference at peak and 6.25x off-peak; when the promotion ends in January the Gemini rate doubles to $7.50 and the gap with it. Against Google's cheapest tier the order flips: the previous-generation Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite ($0.10 / $0.40) is below DeepSeek even off-peak ($0.15 / $0.60). At the pro tier DeepSeek V4-Pro ($1.32 / $3.96) costs about a third of Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview on output.
2. DeepSeek's peak hours and cache rate
Two DeepSeek details change the real cost. First, time of day: peak rates apply from 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC on weekdays, excluding Chinese public holidays, and every other hour bills at half[1]. A batch job scheduled outside those windows pays $0.15 / $0.60 on V4.1-Flash. Second, the cache-hit input rate of $0.006 per million tokens at peak ($0.003 off-peak) is a fiftieth of the cache-miss rate[1]; a workload that resends a large stable context pays close to nothing for it.
The model names changed with the repricing. DeepSeek's current models are DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash (API name deepseek-flash) and DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813, both with a 1M-token context and 384K maximum output; the legacy deepseek-v4-flash name is still accepted and served by V4.1-Flash at the Flash price[1].
3. Gemini's tier ladder and context tiers
Gemini publishes a deeper tier ladder with context-dependent and promotional pricing[2]. Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview charges $2.00 input / $12.00 output at or below 200k-token prompts, and $4.00 / $18.00 above 200k. The new flagship, Gemini 4 Argon, is $2.00 / $10.00 until November 30, 2026 and $4.00 / $20.00 from December 1. Two Flash rates are promotional too, so a budget built on today's Gemini prices needs the post-promotion rates beside it. The cheap tiers (the previous-generation 2.5 Flash-Lite at $0.10 / $0.40, the current 3.5 Flash-Lite at $0.30 / $2.50) are where Gemini meets or beats DeepSeek on cost.
What the Gemini premium buys over DeepSeek: documented long-context pricing tiers, multimodal input priced per modality (text, image, video, audio) where DeepSeek V4.1-Flash takes text and images only, and Google Cloud data-residency and compliance options. For a text-only product on a mid-tier model, DeepSeek's cost advantage is large. For video or audio input, or EU data-residency requirements, Gemini's platform breadth can justify the higher rate.
4. Margin impact on a $19 SaaS
The margin calculator prices a $19/month SaaS where each user triggers 40 API calls a day at 800 input and 600 output tokens, first on DeepSeek V4.1-Flash at peak ($0.30 / $1.20), then on Gemini 3.8 Flash at its promotional rate ($0.75 / $3.75). The engine renders gross margin from the verified rates:
Show the recompute-verified inputs and outputs
| subscription_price | 19 |
|---|---|
| avg_api_calls_per_day | 40 |
| avg_input_tokens | 800 |
| avg_output_tokens | 600 |
| input_cost_per_million | 0.3 |
| output_cost_per_million | 1.2 |
| hosting_cost_per_user | 0.5 |
| other_per_user_costs | 0.25 |
| api cost per user | 1.15 |
|---|---|
| total cost per user | 1.9 |
| gross margin per user | 17.1 |
| gross margin percent | 90 |
| api share percent | 60.5 |
| dominant cost driver | AI API |
| scale tiers › row 1 › users | 100 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › total revenue | 1900 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › total cost | 190 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › total profit | 1710 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › margin percent | 90 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › users | 1000 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › total revenue | 19000 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › total cost | 1900 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › total profit | 17100 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › margin percent | 90 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › users | 10000 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › total revenue | 190000 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › total cost | 19000 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › total profit | 171000 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › margin percent | 90 |
| insight | AI API is 60.5% of your per-user cost ($1.15 a month). At 10K users, that is $11,500 a month on API alone. Caching responses or using a tiered model approach could significantly improve margins. |
Computed live at build time.
| subscription_price | 19 |
|---|---|
| avg_api_calls_per_day | 40 |
| avg_input_tokens | 800 |
| avg_output_tokens | 600 |
| input_cost_per_million | 0.75 |
| output_cost_per_million | 3.75 |
| hosting_cost_per_user | 0.5 |
| other_per_user_costs | 0.25 |
| api cost per user | 3.42 |
|---|---|
| total cost per user | 4.17 |
| gross margin per user | 14.83 |
| gross margin percent | 78.1 |
| api share percent | 82 |
| dominant cost driver | AI API |
| scale tiers › row 1 › users | 100 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › total revenue | 1900 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › total cost | 417 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › total profit | 1483 |
| scale tiers › row 1 › margin percent | 78.1 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › users | 1000 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › total revenue | 19000 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › total cost | 4170 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › total profit | 14830 |
| scale tiers › row 2 › margin percent | 78.1 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › users | 10000 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › total revenue | 190000 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › total cost | 41700 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › total profit | 148300 |
| scale tiers › row 3 › margin percent | 78.1 |
| insight | AI API is 82% of your per-user cost ($3.42 a month). At 10K users, that is $34,200 a month on API alone. Caching responses or using a tiered model approach could significantly improve margins. |
Computed live at build time.
The gap between the two runs is real: on DeepSeek the API costs $1.15 a user a month at peak and the product keeps a 90.0% gross margin, while Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $3.42 a user and the margin is 78.1%. At the post-promotion rate ($1.50 / $7.50) the same usage costs $6.84 a user and the margin falls to 60.1%. At 40 calls a day with 600 output tokens each, the output rate dominates everything. For a high-call-volume product on a low subscription price, the model choice is the difference between a healthy margin and a thin one.
The honest caveat: the calculator prices cost, not capability. If Gemini 3.8 Flash produces materially better output on your task, the higher cost may pay for itself in retention. And if cost is all that matters, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is cheaper still than either. To compare against Western flagships, see Anthropic vs OpenAI pricing and the full cheapest LLM API ranking.
5. Decision guidance
- Text and images, high call volume, mid-tier quality: DeepSeek V4.1-Flash, off-peak where the work can wait. Output at $1.20 (peak) against Gemini 3.8 Flash's $3.75, rising to $7.50 in January, decides it.
- Lowest possible cost: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, the previous generation and still offered, below DeepSeek even at DeepSeek's off-peak rate.
- Video or audio input: Gemini, which prices each modality; DeepSeek V4.1-Flash takes text and images only.
- EU data residency or Google Cloud integration: Gemini, where data-residency options are documented.
- Reasoning workloads on a budget: DeepSeek V4-Pro at $1.32 / $3.96 peak, about a third of Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview's output rate.
Re-verify both pricing pages before committing; DeepSeek has repriced twice in 2026 and now prices by time of day, and two of Gemini's current rates are promotional. For the full provider field including open-weight hosts, see the cheapest LLM API ranking.
Per-token figures read from the official pricing pages on 2026-10-18.
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek or Gemini cheaper in 2026?
It depends on the tier. Against Gemini 3.8 Flash ($0.75 input / $3.75 output per million tokens on a promotional rate through December 31, 2026, then $1.50 / $7.50), DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is cheaper: $0.30 input and $1.20 output at peak, half that off-peak, so about 3 to 6 times cheaper on output now and 6 to 12 times after the promotion. Against Google's cheapest tier, the previous-generation Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite at $0.10 / $0.40, DeepSeek is the more expensive of the two even off-peak ($0.15 / $0.60). Both pricing pages read on October 18, 2026.
When are DeepSeek's off-peak hours?
DeepSeek bills peak rates from 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday, excluding Chinese public holidays. Every other hour, weekends included, is off-peak at half the peak rate. A batch job that can wait for off-peak hours pays $0.15 input and $0.60 output per million tokens on V4.1-Flash.
Why would I pay more for Gemini over DeepSeek?
Gemini buys Google's data-residency options, documented long-context tiers above 200k tokens, multimodal input across text, image, video and audio, and integration with Google Cloud. DeepSeek V4.1-Flash accepts images but not video or audio. The choice is cost against platform and modality breadth, not a pure price decision.
References
Sources
Primary sources only. No vendor-marketing blogs or aggregated secondary claims.
The 10 vendor figures on this page, each with its source and the date it was checked, are also in the vendor price reference, where every figure has its own link.
Tools referenced in this article