DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 or Muse Spark 1.3: which to choose?

Side-by-side comparison

Criterion	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017	Muse Spark 1.3
Developer	DeepSeek	Meta
Released	October 17, 2026	September 2, 2026
Capability index	90.6 / 100	82.7 / 100
Input price	$0.15	$0.10
Output price	$0.60	$0.20
Cost of a typical task	$0.004	$0.002
Context window	1,048,576 tokens	1,048,576 tokens
Maximum output	393,216 tokens	131,072 tokens
Reasoning mode	Yes	Yes
Tool calling	Yes	Yes
Accepted inputs	text, image	text, image, video, PDF, audio
Open weights	Yes	No
Knowledge cutoff	May 2025	Not disclosed

What are we comparing?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 and Muse Spark 1.3 are the flagship models of two major developers, one from DeepSeek, the other from Meta. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 was released on October 17, 2026, Muse Spark 1.3 on September 2, 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.

Performance

On our capability index, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 scores 90.6 out of 100 and Muse Spark 1.3 82.7. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 leads by 7.9 points.

On the 2 benchmarks reported for both, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 wins 1 time and Muse Spark 1.3 1:

OTIS Mock AIME (competition mathematics problems): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 99.4%, Muse Spark 1.3 99.2%
FrontierMath (very hard research-level mathematics): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 71.2%, Muse Spark 1.3 74.4%

Budget

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 costs $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.60 per million output tokens; Muse Spark 1.3 costs $0.10 and $0.20.

For a typical agent task (read 20,000 tokens, write 2,000), expect $0.004 with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 versus $0.002 with Muse Spark 1.3. Muse Spark 1.3 is 1.8 times cheaper, a gap that adds up quickly over 1,000 tasks: $1.8 difference.

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

Context and capabilities

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

Reasoning mode: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 yes, Muse Spark 1.3 yes. Tool calling: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 yes, Muse Spark 1.3 yes. Image input: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 yes, Muse Spark 1.3 yes.

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 publishes its weights and can run on your servers; Muse Spark 1.3 is a closed model, available only through an API.

In short

Our reading of the data:

Choose DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 for a higher capability index and open weights (you can host it yourself).
Choose Muse Spark 1.3 for a lower cost.

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 Muse Spark 1.3: which is better?

On our index (Epoch AI data), DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 scores 90.6 and Muse Spark 1.3 82.7 out of 100. The best choice also depends on price and on your use case.

Which one is cheaper?

Muse Spark 1.3. To read 20,000 tokens and write 2,000, expect $0.004 with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 and $0.002 with Muse Spark 1.3 (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 Muse Spark 1.3 on my own servers?

Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, whose weights are published. Muse Spark 1.3 is used through an API.

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 versus Muse Spark 1.3