Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 vs DeepSeek V3 0324
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 comes out ahead, 67 to 52 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17
67/100- ECI133.8
- Price$0.12 / $0.48
- Context1.05M
DeepSeekDeepSeek V3 0324
52/100- ECI135.9
- Price$0.275 / $1.12
- Context164K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is our pick
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (52). 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 Preview 06-17 133.8
- Lowest priceGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 $0.21 · DeepSeek V3 0324 $0.486 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 1,048,576 · DeepSeek V3 0324 163,840 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · DeepSeek V3 0324: Text
- Self-hostingDeepSeek V3 0324Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 | DeepSeek V3 0324 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 57 | 59 |
| Price | 25% | 79 | 62 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 90 | 25 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 28 |
| Overall | 100% | 67/100 | 52/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17Google | DeepSeek V3 0324DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 133.8 | 135.9 (best) |
| ECI rank | #132 of 165 | #128 of 165 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 67.6% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 37.8% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.12 (best) | $0.275 |
| Output | $0.48 (best) | $1.12 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.21 (best) | $0.486 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Median of 13 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 163,840 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 163,840 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No |
| Audio | Yes | No |
| Video | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 2 | 13 (best) |
| Released | Jun 17, 2025 | Mar 24, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17$2.16
- DeepSeek V3 0324$4.99
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 or DeepSeek V3 0324?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against DeepSeek V3 0324 (52). 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 or DeepSeek V3 0324?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is cheaper at $0.12 input / $0.48 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). DeepSeek V3 0324 costs $0.275 input / $1.12 output per million tokens (median across 13 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.21 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 versus $0.486 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 (#128 of 165) and Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 133.8 (#132 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (132.5–137.7 vs 130.1–136.1), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 and DeepSeek V3 0324 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 Preview 06-17 has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek V3 0324. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 up to 65,536, DeepSeek V3 0324 up to 163,840 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; DeepSeek V3 0324 accepts text. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 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 Preview 06-17 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 is the newest, released Jun 17, 2025. DeepSeek V3 0324 came out Mar 24, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Preview 06-17 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 Nov 2, 2026.
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