DeepSeek V4 Flash vs Qwen3.5 Flash vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview
Qwen3.5 Flash comes out ahead, 79 to 68 and 47 on our weighted score.
DeepSeekDeepSeek V4 Flash
68/100- ECI146.1
- Price$0.14 / $0.28
- Context1M
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.5 Flash
79/100- ECI144.0
- Price$0.10 / $0.40
- Context1M
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3.8 Max Preview
47/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
Qwen3.5 Flash is our pick
Qwen3.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 79/100 against DeepSeek V4 Flash (68) and Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceDeepSeek V4 Flash and Qwen3.5 FlashDeepSeek V4 Flash $0.175 · Qwen3.5 Flash $0.175 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextAbout the sameDeepSeek V4 Flash 1,000,000 · Qwen3.5 Flash 1,000,000 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.5 Flash and Qwen3.8 Max PreviewDeepSeek V4 Flash: Text · Qwen3.5 Flash: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingDeepSeek V4 FlashPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | DeepSeek V4 Flash | Qwen3.5 Flash | Qwen3.8 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 86 | 86 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 45 | 80 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 79/100 | 47/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | DeepSeek V4 FlashDeepSeek | Qwen3.5 FlashAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 146.1 (best) | 144.0 | — |
| ECI rank | #71 of 148 (best) | #82 of 148 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 82.3% | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | 18.3% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 84.4% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 20.3% | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.14 | $0.10 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $0.28 (best) | $0.40 | $6.00 |
| Cached input | — | $0.01 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.175 (best) | $0.175 (best) | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 42 providers | Official Alibaba API | Median of 6 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 384,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | qwen3.5-flash | — |
| API providers | 48 (best) | 8 | 6 |
| Released | Apr 24, 2026 | Feb 23, 2026 | Jul 19, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 2025 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash$1.96
- Qwen3.5 Flash$1.80
- Qwen3.8 Max Preview$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen3.5 Flash or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?
Qwen3.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 79/100 against DeepSeek V4 Flash (68) and Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen3.5 Flash or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?
DeepSeek V4 Flash is cheaper at $0.14 input / $0.28 output per million tokens (median across 42 API providers). Qwen3.5 Flash costs $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); Qwen3.8 Max Preview costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.175 per million tokens for DeepSeek V4 Flash versus $0.175 for Qwen3.5 Flash (1× as much) and $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max Preview (17× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. DeepSeek V4 Flash has an ECI of 146.1, Qwen3.5 Flash has an ECI of 144.0 and Qwen3.8 Max Preview has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen3.5 Flash and Qwen3.8 Max Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
DeepSeek V4 Flash, Qwen3.5 Flash and Qwen3.8 Max Preview share the same 1,000,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V4 Flash up to 384,000, Qwen3.5 Flash up to 65,536, Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
DeepSeek V4 Flash accepts text; Qwen3.5 Flash accepts text, images and video; Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.5 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
DeepSeek V4 Flash publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.5 Flash and Qwen3.8 Max Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the newest, released Jul 19, 2026. DeepSeek V4 Flash came out Apr 24, 2026; Qwen3.5 Flash came out Feb 23, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek V4 Flash May 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.
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