DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp vs GPT-5.6 Luna: price, context and capabilities

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp for high-volume, cost-sensitive work, writing and code generation, reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents) and the latest release; on the other points the two are level or the data is missing.

In short

  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is 28% cheaper than GPT-5.6 Luna at the headline price ($0.3234 / 1M tokens vs $0.45 / 1M tokens).
  • GPT-5.6 Luna reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1.05M.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is the newer model (Aug 21, 2026, against Jul 9, 2026).
  • Only GPT-5.6 Luna offers batch api.

Open in the full comparison table

What a month costsAt 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month.
  1. DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpDeepSeek$7.55
  2. GPT-5.6 LunaOpenAI$10.00

Try your own volumes in the calculator

Which should you choose?

Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.

High-volume, cost-sensitive work

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp costs 28% less on a typical mix of three input tokens for every output token ($0.32 against $0.45 per million tokens).

Writing and code generation

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp charges $0.65 per million output tokens, against $1.20 for GPT-5.6 Luna. Output dominates the bill when answers are long.

Reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents)

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp charges <$0.01 per million cached input tokens, against $0.02 for GPT-5.6 Luna.

Latest release

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is the newer release (Aug 21, 2026, against Jul 9, 2026 for GPT-5.6 Luna).

Monthly cost at three volumes

VolumeDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpGPT-5.6 LunaDifference
Prototype: 1M input, 250K output tokens $0.38 $0.50 DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, $0.12 less
Production: 20M input, 5M output tokens $7.55 $10.00 DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, $2.45 less
Scale: 500M input, 100M output tokens $172.48 $220.00 DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, $47.52 less

Standard rates, without caching or batch discounts. Volumes are per month.

Specifications side by side

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpGPT-5.6 Luna
ProviderDeepSeekOpenAI
CategoryLanguage modelsLanguage models
StatusPreviewGenerally available
Headline price$0.3234 / 1M tokens$0.45 / 1M tokens
Input$0.2156 / 1M tokens$0.20 / 1M tokens
Output$0.6468 / 1M tokens$1.20 / 1M tokens
Cached input$0.0069 / 1M tokens$0.02 / 1M tokens
Context window1.05M1.05M
Max output262k128k
ReleasedAug 21, 2026Jul 9, 2026
Knowledge cutoffNo dataFebruary 2026
LicenceProprietaryProprietary
CapabilitiesVision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt cachingVision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API
API model iddeepseek-v4-flash-vision-expgpt-5.6-luna

Benchmarks side by side

Leader in bold.

BenchmarkDeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpGPT-5.6 Luna
Intelligence Index No data 37.3
SciCode No data 53.6%
GPQA Diamond No data 91.1%
Humanity's Last Exam No data 39.5%
MMMU-Pro (visual reasoning) No data 78.6%
Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) No data 83.7%

Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis, run the same way for every model, at the reasoning setting shown. Percentages unless marked as an index.

Frequently asked questions

Should I choose DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp or GPT-5.6 Luna?

Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp for high-volume, cost-sensitive work, writing and code generation, reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents) and the latest release; on the other points the two are level or the data is missing.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp or GPT-5.6 Luna?

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is 28% cheaper than GPT-5.6 Luna at the headline price ($0.3234 / 1M tokens vs $0.45 / 1M tokens).

Which has the larger context window, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp or GPT-5.6 Luna?

GPT-5.6 Luna reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1.05M.

What is the difference between DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp and GPT-5.6 Luna?

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is made by DeepSeek and GPT-5.6 Luna by OpenAI. DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is 28% cheaper than GPT-5.6 Luna at the headline price ($0.3234 / 1M tokens vs $0.45 / 1M tokens). GPT-5.6 Luna reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1.05M. DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is the newer model (Aug 21, 2026, against Jul 9, 2026). Only GPT-5.6 Luna offers batch api.

How much do DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp and GPT-5.6 Luna cost per month?

At 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp costs $7.55 and GPT-5.6 Luna costs $10.00, at standard rates.

Which is newer, DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp or GPT-5.6 Luna?

DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp was released on Aug 21, 2026 and GPT-5.6 Luna on Jul 9, 2026.