DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is free for input tokens while GPT-5.2 costs $1.75 per 1M tokens.
API cost decision in 10 seconds
GPT-5.2 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash (free)
Pick DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) when budget and context both matter.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is estimated at $0 vs $8.75 for GPT-5.2, saving $8.75 (100% lower).
Cost-first pickDeepSeek V4 Flash (free)
Context-first pickDeepSeek V4 Flash (free)
Sample savings$8.75100%
10x traffic gap$87.5
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $87.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | GPT-5.2 | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) | $15.75 | $0 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) | $15.75 | $0 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) | $71.75 | $0 |
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is free for output tokens while GPT-5.2 costs $14 per 1M tokens.
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) has 648.58K more context (2.62x larger).
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $8.75.
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
DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) has the lower input price; DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) has the lower output price; DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $8.75 for GPT-5.2 and $0 for DeepSeek V4 Flash (free).
Choose GPT-5.2 when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
Choose DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is estimated at $0 vs $8.75 for GPT-5.2, saving $8.75 (100% lower).
- DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is free for the standard workload while the other model is estimated at $8.75.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is free for input tokens while GPT-5.2 costs $1.75 per 1M tokens.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is free for output tokens while GPT-5.2 costs $14 per 1M tokens.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) has 648.58K more context (2.62x larger).
| Feature | GPT-5.2 (OpenAI) | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) (DeepSeek) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $1.75 | $0 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $14 | $0 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $8.75 | $0 |
| Context Window | 400K | 1.05M |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #66 | #78 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) is estimated at $0 vs $8.75 for GPT-5.2, saving $8.75 (100% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- gpt-oss-120b (free) can replace GPT-5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- gpt-oss-20b (free) can replace GPT-5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- gpt-oss-20b can replace GPT-5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
- gpt-oss-120b can replace GPT-5.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
- GPT-5.4 offers 1.05M context with $10 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
- Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4
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