DeepSeek V3 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash
A side-by-side comparison of DeepSeek V3 (DeepSeek) and DeepSeek V4 Flash (DeepSeek) on pricing, context, and capabilities. Both are available on one Kyma API key — switch between them with a one-line model change.
| Spec |  DeepSeek V3 | DeepSeek V4 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | DeepSeek | DeepSeek |
| Input / 1M | $0.81 | $0.189 |
| Output / 1M | $2.295 | $0.378 |
| Cached input | — | $0.0189 (10%) |
| Context window | 160K | 1M |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Vision input | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Speed | medium | fast |
Which should you pick?
DeepSeek V4 Flash is the cheaper option on input tokens; DeepSeek V4 Flash has the larger context window at 1M. Both run on the same Kyma key, so you can A/B them by changing one string.
Switch with one line
# Same key, same endpoint — just change the model string client = OpenAI(base_url="https://kymaapi.com/v1", api_key="YOUR_API_KEY") client.chat.completions.create(model="deepseek-v3", messages=[...]) client.chat.completions.create(model="deepseek-v4-flash", messages=[...])
FAQ
Is DeepSeek V3 or DeepSeek V4 Flash cheaper?
On input tokens, DeepSeek V3 is $0.81 in / $2.295 out per 1M and DeepSeek V4 Flash is $0.189 in / $0.378 out per 1M. Both bill per token with cached input at 10% where supported, and both are on the same Kyma balance.
Can I switch between DeepSeek V3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash without changing my code?
Yes. Both are served through the same OpenAI-compatible Kyma endpoint (https://kymaapi.com/v1). Switching is a one-line change to the model field — `deepseek-v3` or `deepseek-v4-flash` — with the same API key.
Which has the larger context window?
DeepSeek V3 has a 160K context window and DeepSeek V4 Flash has 1M. Pick the larger one for long documents or repo-level context.