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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Muse Spark 1.3 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 comes out ahead, 79 to 72 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Meta

    Muse Spark 1.3

    Released Sep 2, 2026

    72/100
    • ECI157.4
    • Price$1.25 / $4.25
    • Context1.05M
  2. Our pick

    DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017

    Released Oct 17, 2026New

    79/100
    • ECI158.8
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context1M
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is our pick

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is the better all-round choice, scoring 79/100 against Muse Spark 1.3 (72). It leads on capability and price. Muse Spark 1.3 wins on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 158.8 · Muse Spark 1.3 157.4
  • Lowest priceDeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 $0.263 · Muse Spark 1.3 $2.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextMuse Spark 1.3Muse Spark 1.3 1,048,576 · DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsMuse Spark 1.3Muse Spark 1.3: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingDeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017Publishes downloadable weights (MIT)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMuse Spark 1.3DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8687
Price25%3474
Inputs & features15%10070
Context window10%6160
Overall100%72/10079/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Muse Spark 1.3 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 specifications side by side
SpecificationMuse Spark 1.3MetaDeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017DeepSeek
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)157.4158.8 (best)
ECI rank#24 of 165#19 of 165 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—93.2%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics74.4% (best)71.2%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics99.2%99.4% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—42.5%
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25$0.15 (best)
Output$4.25$0.60 (best)
Cached input$0.15$0.003 (best)
Blended (3:1)$2.00$0.263 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Meta APIOfficial DeepSeek API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)1,000,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens384,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh · maxYeslow · high · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenMIT
API model IDmuse-spark-1.3deepseek-flash
API providers1740 (best)
ReleasedSep 2, 2026Oct 17, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—May 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.

  • Muse Spark 1.3$21.00
  • DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017$2.70
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Muse Spark 1.3 or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is the better all-round choice, scoring 79/100 against Muse Spark 1.3 (72). It leads on capability and price. Muse Spark 1.3 wins on inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Muse Spark 1.3 or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official DeepSeek API price). Muse Spark 1.3 costs $1.25 input / $4.25 output per million tokens (official Meta API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.263 per million tokens for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 versus $2.00 for Muse Spark 1.3 (7.6× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 158.8 (#19 of 165) and Muse Spark 1.3 157.4 (#24 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (156.7–162.2 vs 155.4–159.9), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Muse Spark 1.3 74.4%, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 71.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 99.4%, Muse Spark 1.3 99.2%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Muse Spark 1.3 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 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?

Muse Spark 1.3 has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017. Maximum output per response: Muse Spark 1.3 up to 131,072, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 up to 384,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Muse Spark 1.3 accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 accepts text and images. Muse Spark 1.3 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Muse Spark 1.3 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is the newest, released Oct 17, 2026. Muse Spark 1.3 came out Sep 2, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 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 Nov 2, 2026.