Model comparison

DeepSeek V3 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)

Data verified July 23, 2026

Head-to-head evidence from 19 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

DeepSeek V3

DeepSeek

44.97/100

No comparison

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)

DeepSeek

N/A

1 category wins2 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: DeepSeek V3 #147 (Supported); DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) unranked (Not scored). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) share 19 comparable benchmark results. 3 of 8 categories are comparable. 3 results are unique to DeepSeek V3; 26 to DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max).

Updated July 23, 2026

Shared results: 19
DeepSeek V3 only: 3
DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) only: 26
Comparable categories: 3 / 8

Treat this as a split decision. DeepSeek V3 makes more sense if knowledge is the priority or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model; DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) is the better fit if mathematics is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 19 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 3 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.

DeepSeek V3 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.27 input / $1.10 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.14 input / $0.28 output per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max). That is roughly 3.9x on output cost alone. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) is the reasoning model in the pair, while DeepSeek V3 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 128K for DeepSeek V3.

Category breakdown

Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.

Category scores and score margins for DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)
Category	DeepSeek V3	Δ	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)
Math	DeepSeek V31.7	Margin→ 93.1	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)94.8
Coding	DeepSeek V338.9	Margin→ 29.9	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)68.8
Knowledge	DeepSeek V372.7	Margin← 17.4	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)55.3
Agentic	DeepSeek V3Not measured	MarginNo overlap	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)63.8
Inst. Following	DeepSeek V386.1	MarginNo overlap	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Not measured

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

A · DeepSeek V3B · DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)

SWE-bench Verified
Coding
Source ↗
A 42%B 79%
Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 37
SWE-bench Verified: DeepSeek V3 scored 42%; DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 79%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.
GPQA
Knowledge
Source ↗
A 59.1%B 88.1%
Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 29
GPQA: DeepSeek V3 scored 59.1%; DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 88.1%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.
MMLU-Pro
Knowledge
Source ↗
A 75.9%B 86.2%
Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 10.3
MMLU-Pro: DeepSeek V3 scored 75.9%; DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 86.2%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

Metric	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens	DeepSeek V3$0.27 input / $1.1 output	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)$0.14 input / $0.28 output	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per second	DeepSeek V3Not available	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Not available	A complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first token	DeepSeek V3Not available	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Not available	A complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokens	DeepSeek V3128K	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)1M	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic

15 benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Result
AA Agentic IndexSource	1.6%	31.1%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
τ²-bench resultsSource	22.8%	95%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
GDPval-AASource	0.0%	34.4%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
GDPval-AASource	217	1189	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source	—	56.9%	Not comparable
BrowseCompSource	—	73.2%	Not comparable
HLE w/ toolsSource	—	45.1%	Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource	—	69%	Not comparable
ToolathlonSource	—	47.8%	Not comparable
AA BriefcaseSource	—	831	Not comparable
AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource	—	39.6%	Not comparable
AA Harvey LABSource	—	81.3%	Not comparable
AA ITBenchSource	—	31.5%	Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource	—	22.9%	Not comparable
terminalBenchHardSource	—	35.6%	Not comparable

CodingDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins

8 benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Result
LiveCodeBenchSource	37.6%	—	Not comparable
SWE-bench VerifiedSource	42%	79%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA Coding IndexSource	23.0%	56.2%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA-SciCodeSource	35.4%	44.9%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
CodeforcesSource	—	3052.0	Not comparable
SWE-bench ProSource	—	52.6%	Not comparable
SWE MultilingualSource	—	73.3%	Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source	—	56.9%	Not comparable

Reasoning

4 benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Result
AA-LCRSource	29.0%	63.0%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
CritPtSource	0.0%	7.1%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
MRCR 1MSource	—	78.7%	Not comparable
CorpusQA 1MSource	—	60.5%	Not comparable

KnowledgeDeepSeek V3 wins

13 benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Result
GPQASource	59.1%	88.1%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
MMLU-ProSource	75.9%	86.2%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource	14.2%	40.3%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource	55.7%	89.4%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA-HLESource	3.6%	32.1%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource	-41.3%	-22.9%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource	25.4%	37.2%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource	89.4%	95.8%	DeepSeek V3 leads
SimpleQASource	—	34.1%	Not comparable
Chinese-SimpleQASource	—	78.9%	Not comparable
GPQA-DSource	—	88.1%	Not comparable
HLESource	—	34.8%	Not comparable
AA Openness IndexSource	—	50.0%	Not comparable

MathDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins

5 benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Result
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source	1.724%	—	Not comparable
HMMT Feb 2026Source	—	94.8%	Not comparable
IMOAnswerBenchSource	—	88.4%	Not comparable
ApexSource	—	33.0%	Not comparable
Apex ShortlistSource	—	85.7%	Not comparable

Multimodal

1 benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Result
Design Arena WebsiteSource	1150	1238	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads

Inst. Following

2 benchmarks

Benchmark	DeepSeek V3	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)	Result
IFEvalSource	86.1%	—	Not comparable
AA-IFBenchSource	34.8%	79.2%	DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads

Frequently Asked Questions (4)

Which is better, DeepSeek V3 or DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)?

DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, DeepSeek V3 or DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)?

DeepSeek V3 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.7 versus 55.3. Inside this category, AA-GPQA Diamond is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, DeepSeek V3 or DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 68.8 versus 38.9. Inside this category, SWE-bench Verified is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, DeepSeek V3 or DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 94.8 versus 1.7. DeepSeek V3 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.

Self-host vs API cost

Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.

DeepSeek V3

API / mo$1,028

Self-host / mo$18,221

Break-even1.2B/day

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)

API / mo$315

Self-host / moNot listed

Break-even—

Proprietary model — self-hosting not applicable.

Model the full break-even

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Last updated: July 23, 2026

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