API cost decision in 10 seconds
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) vs 🔥DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
Pick Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 only if the larger context window matters more.
Pricing data updated:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) for lower cost; pick DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.08 for DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, saving $0.08 (100% lower).
Cost-first pickNemotron 3.5 Lightning (free)
Context-first pickDeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
Sample savings$0.08100%
10x traffic gap$0.8
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 has more context, but Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) saves $0.08 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.8. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) | $0 | $0.24 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) | $0 | $0.12 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) | $0 | $0.44 |
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) has the lower input price, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) has the lower output price, and DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers the larger context window.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0 for Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) and $0.08 for DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731.
Choose Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 when you care most about larger context window.
| Feature | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) (NVIDIA) | 🔥DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 (DeepSeek) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0 | $0.04 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $0 | $0.08 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $0 | $0.08 |
| Context Window | 1M | 1.31M |
| Release Date | 2026-08-11 | 2026-07-31 |
| Popularity | #4 |
NVIDIA Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is an open mixture-of-experts model from NVIDIA, with 3B active parameters out of 30B total. It is suited for high-throughput agentic workloads and specialized tasks that...
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 is a sparse mixture-of-experts model from DeepSeek, with 13B active parameters out of 284B total. This re-post-trained revision is suited for coding, reasoning, and agent workflows....
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) is estimated at $0 vs $0.08 for DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731, saving $0.08 (100% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free) | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files. |