AI model APIs · head-to-head
DeepSeek V4 Flash vs MiniMax M3
Same usage, official rates, ranked by nothing but price. Both rate cards, the monthly bill at five workloads, and the exact usage mix where the answer flips.
The pricing verdict DeepSeek V4 Flash is cheaper than MiniMax M3 at every input:output mix — there is no usage pattern where MiniMax M3 costs less.
Rate cards
| Per 1M tokens | DeepSeek V4 Flash | MiniMax M3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $0.14 | $0.30 |
| Cached input | $0.0028 | $0.06 |
| Output | $0.28 | $1.2 |
| Context window | — | — |
Monthly cost at five workloads
| Workload | Tokens / month | DeepSeek V4 Flash | MiniMax M3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 1M in · 0.3M out | $0.22 | $0.66 |
| Small app | 10M in · 3M out | $2.24 | $6.60 |
| Production app | 50M in · 15M out | $11.2 | $33 |
| High volume | 200M in · 60M out | $44.8 | $132 |
| Heavy platform | 1B in · 300M out | $224 | $660 |
Standard on-demand rates from each provider's official pricing page, verified July 2026; figures exclude caching and batch discounts and any long-context surcharges. DeepSeek V4 Flash: Cache-hit input bills at $0.0028 per 1M. The legacy deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner names map to this model. MiniMax M3: Rates shown are for prompts ≤512k tokens; above that, input and output double ($0.60/$2.40). Cache reads bill at $0.06 per 1M. Price is one input — quality, latency and context limits differ. Confirm live pricing before committing.