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HEAD TO HEAD · UPDATED NOV 6, 2026
DeepSeek V4.1-Flash vs Muse Spark Open
DeepSeek against Meta, on sourced numbers only. Green marks the higher (or cheaper) value on each row; the text below only calls a lead when the gap is bigger than measurement noise.
| DeepSeek V4.1-Flash | Muse Spark Open | |
|---|---|---|
| Arena Elo | 1476 source ↗ | not published |
| GPQA Diamond | 90.9% source ↗ | 89.0% source ↗ |
| $ per 1M in / out | $0.15 / $0.60 source ↗ | $1.25 / $4.25 source ↗ |
| Blended $ per 1M (3:1) | $0.26 source ↗ | $2.00 source ↗ |
| Context window | 1M source ↗ | 1M source ↗ |
| Output speed | 174 tok/s source ↗ | 153 tok/s source ↗ |
| Released | Sep 10, 2026 source ↗ | Oct 15, 2026 source ↗ |
| Open weights | Yes source ↗ | Yes source ↗ |
| Reasoning effort tiers | low · high · max (default: high) | not verified (default: not stated) |
| API effort control | thinking={"type": "enabled" | "disabled"}, reasoning_effort="low" | "high" | "max" (medium and xhigh map to high) source ↗ | Not verified: reasoning controls depend on the host source ↗ |
| Additional benchmarks | DeepSWE v1.1: 77.0% (Oct 17 update; 74.2% on Sep 10) source ↗ | Size: 816B total, 42B active (MoE) source ↗ Output speed: 153 tok/s, varies by host source ↗ |
| Best for (workload) | Fastest output we track (174 tok/s, Artificial Analysis) and the lowest list price ($0.15 / $0.60 off-peak); MIT open weights. source ↗ | Meta's large open-weights model (816B total, 42B active) with a 1M context window; 89.0% GPQA Diamond (Meta). source ↗ |
Arena Elo from the arena.ai text leaderboard as of Oct 27, 2026 source ↗. Speed measured by Artificial Analysis and varies by provider.
Which one should I use?
For high-volume work where cost matters most, DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is about 7.6 times cheaper per token. On release timing, DeepSeek is at day 20 of a typical ~32-day gap (MID-CYCLE), and Meta is at day 22 of a typical ~14-day gap (PAST TYPICAL GAP).
Key differences from the sourced numbers
- DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is the cheaper option: $0.26 vs $2.00 per 1M tokens at a 3:1 input-to-output mix (about 7.6 times less).
- On GPQA Diamond they are close (90.9% vs 89.0%).
- DeepSeek V4.1-Flash pricing note: Off-peak price (cache hit $0.003 / 1M). Peak hours (01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, weekdays): $0.30 / $1.20 (cache hit $0.006 / 1M).
- Muse Spark Open pricing note: Hosted price on OpenRouter (ID meta/muse-spark-open) and Together AI (ID meta-models/Muse-Spark-Open-816B-A42B). Open weights under the Muse Model License.
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek V4.1-Flash or Muse Spark Open better?
DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is the cheaper option: $0.26 vs $2.00 per 1M tokens at a 3:1 input-to-output mix (about 7.6 times less). On GPQA Diamond they are close (90.9% vs 89.0%). DeepSeek V4.1-Flash pricing note: Off-peak price (cache hit $0.003 / 1M). Peak hours (01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, weekdays): $0.30 / $1.20 (cache hit $0.006 / 1M). Muse Spark Open pricing note: Hosted price on OpenRouter (ID meta/muse-spark-open) and Together AI (ID meta-models/Muse-Spark-Open-816B-A42B). Open weights under the Muse Model License.
Which one should I use: DeepSeek V4.1-Flash or Muse Spark Open?
For high-volume work where cost matters most, DeepSeek V4.1-Flash is about 7.6 times cheaper per token. On release timing, DeepSeek is at day 20 of a typical ~32-day gap (MID-CYCLE), and Meta is at day 22 of a typical ~14-day gap (PAST TYPICAL GAP).
How much does DeepSeek V4.1-Flash cost compared with Muse Spark Open?
DeepSeek V4.1-Flash lists at $0.15 / $0.60 per 1M input/output tokens ($0.26/1M blended at 3:1). Muse Spark Open lists at $1.25 / $4.25 per 1M input/output tokens ($2.00/1M blended at 3:1).
Facts checked Nov 5, 2026 against official sources. Every number links to its source. Spotted an error? Email [email protected].