DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 vs Gemini 4 Argon: price, scores, context

Side-by-side comparison

Criterion	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017	Gemini 4 Argon
Developer	DeepSeek	Google DeepMind
Released	October 17, 2026	October 13, 2026
Capability index	90.6 / 100	95.3 / 100
Input price	$0.15	$2
Output price	$0.60	$10
Cost of a typical task	$0.004	$0.06
Context window	1,048,576 tokens	1,048,576 tokens
Maximum output	393,216 tokens	32,768 tokens
Reasoning mode	Yes	Yes
Tool calling	Yes	Yes
Accepted inputs	text, image	text, image, video, audio, PDF
Open weights	Yes	No
Knowledge cutoff	May 2025	March 2026

The match-up at a glance

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 and Gemini 4 Argon are the flagship models of two major developers, one from DeepSeek, the other from Google DeepMind. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 was released on October 17, 2026, Gemini 4 Argon on October 13, 2026.

All figures below come from public sources checked on October 22, 2026: models.dev and OpenRouter for prices and capabilities, Epoch AI for scores.

What the benchmarks say

On our capability index, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 scores 90.6 out of 100 and Gemini 4 Argon 95.3. Gemini 4 Argon leads by 4.7 points.

On the 3 benchmarks reported for both, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 wins 0 times and Gemini 4 Argon 3:

GPQA Diamond (PhD-level science questions): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 93.2%, Gemini 4 Argon 96.4%
OTIS Mock AIME (competition mathematics problems): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 99.4%, Gemini 4 Argon 100%
FrontierMath (very hard research-level mathematics): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 71.2%, Gemini 4 Argon 86%

Pricing

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens; Gemini 4 Argon costs $2 and $10.

For a typical agent task (read 20,000 tokens, write 2,000), expect $0.004 with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 versus $0.06 with Gemini 4 Argon. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is 14.3 times cheaper, a gap that adds up quickly over 1,000 tasks: $55.8 difference.

Run the numbers with your own volumes in the agent cost calculator.

Features and limits

Both models have the same context window: 1,048,576 tokens, roughly 1,573 pages.

Reasoning mode: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 yes, Gemini 4 Argon yes. Tool calling: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 yes, Gemini 4 Argon yes. Image input: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 yes, Gemini 4 Argon yes.

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 publishes its weights and can run on your servers; Gemini 4 Argon is a closed model, available only through an API.

Knowledge cutoff: May 2025 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, March 2026 for Gemini 4 Argon.

In short

Our reading of the data:

Choose DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 for a lower cost and open weights (you can host it yourself).
Choose Gemini 4 Argon for a higher capability index.

This verdict relies on public figures; it does not replace a trial on your own tasks.

Frequently asked questions

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 or Gemini 4 Argon: which is better?

On our index (Epoch AI data), DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 scores 90.6 and Gemini 4 Argon 95.3 out of 100. The best choice also depends on price and on your use case.

Which one is cheaper?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017. To read 20,000 tokens and write 2,000, expect $0.004 with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 and $0.06 with Gemini 4 Argon (prices as of October 22, 2026).

Which one has the larger context window?

Neither: both accept 1,048,576 tokens.

Can I run DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 or Gemini 4 Argon on my own servers?

Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, whose weights are published. Gemini 4 Argon is used through an API.

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 vs Gemini 4 Argon