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Model comparison

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) vs MAI-Thinking-1

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 9 shared benchmark results across 4 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

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No comparison
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3 category wins1 category wins

Evidence parity. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) and MAI-Thinking-1 share 9 comparable benchmark results. 4 of 8 categories are comparable. 36 results are unique to DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max); 4 to MAI-Thinking-1.

Updated July 23, 2026
Shared results
9
DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) only
36
MAI-Thinking-1 only
4
Comparable categories
4 / 8

Treat this as a split decision. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) makes more sense if agentic is the priority or you need the larger 1M context window; MAI-Thinking-1 is the better fit if knowledge is the priority.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 9 shared benchmark results across 4 evidence categories; 4 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) and MAI-Thinking-1 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 V4 Flash (Max) gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for MAI-Thinking-1.

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 V4 Flash (Max) and MAI-Thinking-1
CategoryDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)ΔMAI-Thinking-1
AgenticDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)63.8Margin← 17.8MAI-Thinking-146.0
KnowledgeDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)55.3Margin→ 17.2MAI-Thinking-172.5
MathDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)94.8Margin← 5.1MAI-Thinking-189.7
CodingDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)68.8Margin← 3.3MAI-Thinking-165.5
Inst. FollowingDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Not measuredMarginNo overlapMAI-Thinking-185.0

Decisive benchmark drivers

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

More
A · DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)B · MAI-Thinking-1

  1. Terminal-Bench 2.0

    Agentic
    Source ↗
    A 56.9%B 46%
    Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 10.9
    Terminal-Bench 2.0: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 56.9%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 46%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.

  2. HMMT Feb 2026

    Math
    Source ↗
    A 94.8%B 84.9%
    Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 9.9
    HMMT Feb 2026: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 94.8%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 84.9%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.

  3. SWE-bench Verified

    Coding
    Source ↗
    A 79%B 73.5%
    Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 5.5
    SWE-bench Verified: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 79%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 73.5%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.

  4. GPQA

    Knowledge
    Source ↗
    A 88.1%B 84.2%
    Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 3.9
    GPQA: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 88.1%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 84.2%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.

  5. SimpleQA

    Knowledge
    Source ↗
    A 34.1%B 31%
    Winner: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Δ 3.1
    SimpleQA: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) scored 34.1%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 31%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

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

MetricDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)$0.14 input / $0.28 outputMAI-Thinking-1Not availableA complete price comparison is not available.
Generation speedtokens per secondDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Not availableMAI-Thinking-1Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)Not availableMAI-Thinking-1Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)1MMAI-Thinking-1256KDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

AgenticDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Result
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 56.9%46%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
BrowseCompSource 73.2%—Not comparable
HLE w/ toolsSource 45.1%—Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource 69%—Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 1189—Not comparable
ToolathlonSource 47.8%—Not comparable
AA Agentic IndexSource 31.1%—Not comparable
τ²-bench resultsSource 95%—Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 34.4%—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
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Result
CodeforcesSource 3052.0—Not comparable
SWE-bench VerifiedSource 79%73.5%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
SWE-bench ProSource 52.6%52.8%MAI-Thinking-1 leads
SWE MultilingualSource 73.3%—Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 56.9%46.0%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
AA Coding IndexSource 56.2%—Not comparable
AA-SciCodeSource 44.9%—Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Result
MRCR 1MSource 78.7%—Not comparable
CorpusQA 1MSource 60.5%—Not comparable
AA-LCRSource 63.0%—Not comparable
CritPtSource 7.1%—Not comparable
Graphwalks BFS 128KSource —90%Not comparable
KnowledgeMAI-Thinking-1 wins
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Result
MMLU-ProSource 86.2%85%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
SimpleQASource 34.1%31%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
Chinese-SimpleQASource 78.9%—Not comparable
GPQASource 88.1%84.2%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
GPQA-DSource 88.1%84.2%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
HLESource 34.8%—Not comparable
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 40.3%—Not comparable
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 89.4%—Not comparable
AA-HLESource 32.1%—Not comparable
AA-Omniscience IndexSource -22.9%—Not comparable
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 37.2%—Not comparable
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 95.8%—Not comparable
AA Openness IndexSource 50.0%—Not comparable
MathDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) wins
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Result
HMMT Feb 2026Source 94.8%84.9%DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) leads
IMOAnswerBenchSource 88.4%—Not comparable
ApexSource 33.0%—Not comparable
Apex ShortlistSource 85.7%—Not comparable
AIME 2025Source —97%Not comparable
AIME26Source —94.5%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Result
Design Arena WebsiteSource 1238—Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)MAI-Thinking-1Result
AA-IFBenchSource 79.2%—Not comparable
IFBenchSource —85%Not comparable
Frequently Asked Questions (5)

Which is better, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or MAI-Thinking-1?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) and MAI-Thinking-1 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 V4 Flash (Max) or MAI-Thinking-1?

MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.5 versus 55.3. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or MAI-Thinking-1?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 68.8 versus 65.5. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for math, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or MAI-Thinking-1?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 94.8 versus 89.7. Inside this category, HMMT Feb 2026 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for agentic tasks, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or MAI-Thinking-1?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 63.8 versus 46. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

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