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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 71 to 54 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V3 0324

    Released Mar 24, 2025

    54/100
    • ECI135.9
    • Price$0.24 / $0.90
    • Context164K
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V3 0324
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    71/100
    • ECI133.9
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek V3 0324Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 133.9
  • Lowest priceGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 · DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.405 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteDeepSeek V3 0324: Text · Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek V3 0324Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek V3 0324Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%6058
Price25%6886
Inputs & features15%25100
Context window10%2861
Overall100%54/10071/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

DeepSeek V3 0324 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeekGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)135.9 (best)133.9
ECI rank#114 of 148 (best)#118 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions67.6%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics37.8%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.24$0.10 (best)
Output$0.90$0.40 (best)
Cached input—$0.01
Blended (3:1)$0.405$0.175 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 5 providersOfficial Google API
Limits
Context window163,840 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output163,840 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model ID—gemini-2.5-flash-lite
API providers520 (best)
ReleasedMar 24, 2025Jun 17, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Jan 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • DeepSeek V3 0324$4.20
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek V3 0324 or Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 71/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (54). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. DeepSeek V3 0324 wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V3 0324 or Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). DeepSeek V3 0324 costs $0.24 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.175 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite versus $0.405 for DeepSeek V3 0324 (2.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek V3 0324 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V3 0324 135.9 (#114 of 148) and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 133.9 (#118 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (132.4–138.0 vs 129.8–136.3), so treat the gap as small.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V3 0324 and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V3 0324 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek V3 0324 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the newest, released Jun 17, 2025. DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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