Ahead of V4 Pro at Flash cost
DeepSeek reports V4.1 Flash beats V4 Pro on performance, cost, speed and total runtime in tests by multiple parties.
DeepSeek
Operational· checked every few minutesDeepSeek V4.1 Flash API
The DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API: DeepSeek's Flash model, with image input and 1M context
Price per 1M tokens90%off
- Input
- $0.03
$0.30 - Output
- $0.12
$1.20 - Cached input
- $0.00074
$0.006
Model ID
deepseek-v4.1-flashUpdated chat.py
from openai import OpenAIclient = OpenAI( base_url="https://api.zurelay.com/v1", api_key="YOUR_ZURELAY_KEY",)stream = client.chat.completions.create( model="deepseek-v4.1-flash", messages=[ {"role": "user", "content": "Explain quicksort briefly."}, ], stream=True,)for chunk in stream: if chunk.choices: print(chunk.choices[0].delta.content or "", end="")Base URL https://api.zurelay.com/v1. Works with any OpenAI SDK. Chat API docs
- Context window
- 1M tokens
- Max output
- 384K tokens
- Reasoning
- none · high · max
- Input
- Text, Image
- Released
- Sep 10, 2026
- Status
- Operational
Pricing
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API pricing. A fraction of the list price.
Pay as you go from prepaid credit, with no subscription. Top up from $10. Requests that fail are never billed.
| Rate | Zurelay | DeepSeek list | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
Input per 1M tokens | $0.03 | 90%off | |
Output per 1M tokens | $0.12 | 90%off | |
Cached input per 1M tokens | $0.00074 | 88%off |
One rate at every prompt length, up to the full 1M context window. Streaming, tool calls and structured outputs cost nothing extra.
Every DeepSeek model and priceSavings calculator
Move the sliders to your monthly usage.
Input tokens per month50M
Output tokens per month10M
Zurelay
$2.70
DeepSeek list price
$27.00
You save every month$24.30
$291.60 a year
Cost
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API cost, worked out.
Typical workloads at Zurelay's live prices, next to the list price.
Chatbot
50,000 requests a month, 1,500 tokens in and 300 out, 30% of the input cached. $0.000068 a request.
$3.39a month$33.89at listDocuments
20,000 requests a month, 8,000 tokens in and 500 out, 20% of the input cached. $0.000253 a request.
$5.06a month$50.59at listCoding agent
5,000 requests a month, 40,000 tokens in and 1,500 out, 85% of the input cached. $0.000385 a request.
$1.93a month$19.02at listClassification
1,000,000 requests a month, 400 tokens in and 5 out. $0.000013 a request.
$12.60a month$126.00at list
Overview
What is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the Flash model DeepSeek released on September 10, 2026, the first in its new architecture family. It reads text and images, holds 1M tokens of context and runs in thinking or non-thinking mode. The Zurelay DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API serves it through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint at 90% below DeepSeek's peak list price.
DeepSeek released V4.1 Flash on September 10, 2026 as the smallest model in its new architecture family, with native visual understanding. DeepSeek's API served it as deepseek-flash until October 17, 2026, when the V4.1 Flash 1017 update took that name. The DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API accepts text and images, returns text, and supports a 1M-token context with up to 384K output tokens.
Under the hood it is a 552B-parameter mixture-of-experts backbone with a new causal encoder-decoder design. It activates 8B parameters per token when reading input and 16B when generating output. With FP4 KV caching, the cache takes 890 bytes per token, about a quarter of V4 Flash. DeepSeek says this lowers the cost of running long-horizon agents at scale.
DeepSeek reports that tests by multiple parties put V4.1 Flash ahead of V4 Pro on performance, cost, speed and total runtime. Thinking mode is the default on DeepSeek's API, and you can switch it off when you want direct answers without a reasoning trace. The model supports tool calls and JSON output, and the weights are open under the MIT license.
On Zurelay the model ID is deepseek-v4.1-flash, and deepseek-flash works too, so code written for DeepSeek's API only needs a new base URL and key. For the October update, call deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017. You pay $0.03 per 1M input tokens and $0.12 per 1M output tokens at any hour. DeepSeek's own rates change between peak and off-peak hours.
Strengths
Where DeepSeek V4.1 Flash shines. And what teams build with it.
Cheap long context
A KV cache of 890 bytes per token, about a quarter of V4 Flash, keeps 1M-token prompts and long agent sessions affordable to serve.
Native image understanding
Screenshots, charts and scanned documents go in alongside text, with no separate vision model.
Drop-in for DeepSeek code
Zurelay accepts DeepSeek's deepseek-flash model name, so existing clients switch with a base URL and key change.
Use cases
Long-running agents
Run agents that keep long tool histories in context. The small KV cache was designed for exactly this.
Coding tools
Use thinking mode for code generation, review and repository Q&A, and turn it off for quick completions.
Document and screenshot parsing
Extract fields from scanned forms, charts and UI screenshots straight into JSON.
Bulk text processing
Summarize, classify and translate large volumes of text at a low per-token rate.
Get started
Call DeepSeek V4.1 Flash in three steps.
No waitlist and no new SDK. If your code already talks to OpenAI, it already talks to Zurelay.
- 1
Create a key
Sign up, add credit and create an API key. Set a monthly budget or a rate limit per key if you like.
- 2
Point your SDK at Zurelay
Change the base URL. Everything else in your code stays the same.
https://api.zurelay.com/v1 - 3
Use deepseek-v4.1-flash
Send chat completions as usual. Streaming, tool calls and usage reporting work as you expect.
deepseek-v4.1-flash
Works with the tools you already use
Compare
Similar models. All on the same key.
90%off
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017
$0.03 / $0.12 per 1M tokens
Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 for DeepSeek's October update: higher agent and coding scores at the same price.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 API84%off
DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813
$0.23 / $0.62 per 1M tokens
Pick DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 when your prompts and evals are tuned on V4 Pro and you want that fixed checkpoint.
DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 API69%off
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731
$0.029 / $0.087 per 1M tokens
Pick DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 to pin the previous-generation V4 Flash release for reproducible, text-only results.
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 APIHow much does the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API cost?
On Zurelay, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.03 per 1M input tokens and $0.12 per 1M output tokens, with cached input at $0.00074. DeepSeek's peak-hour list price is $0.30 input and $1.20 output, and it charges half that off-peak. Zurelay uses one rate at all hours, 90% below DeepSeek's peak list price.
Is there a cheaper DeepSeek API?
Zurelay serves DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at 90% below DeepSeek's peak list price, with no peak-hour pricing to plan around. You pay as you go, and credit you buy doesn't expire while your account is open.
How do I call the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API with the OpenAI SDK?
Set the OpenAI SDK's base URL to https://api.zurelay.com/v1, use your Zurelay API key and set model to "deepseek-v4.1-flash". If your code already uses DeepSeek's name deepseek-flash, Zurelay accepts that too.
What is the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash context window?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash supports 1M tokens of context and up to 384K output tokens per response.
How is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash different from DeepSeek V4 Flash?
V4.1 Flash uses a new architecture: a 552B-parameter causal encoder-decoder, against V4 Flash's 284B-parameter model. It adds native image input and cuts the KV cache to about a quarter of V4 Flash's. DeepSeek retired V4 Flash on its own API when V4.1 Flash launched.
What is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash best at?
Agents, coding and long-context work where cost matters. DeepSeek designed it for faster inference, higher throughput and cheaper long-horizon agents, and reports it ahead of V4 Pro in tests by multiple parties.
Does DeepSeek V4.1 Flash have a thinking mode?
Yes. It supports thinking and non-thinking modes, and thinking is the default on DeepSeek's own API. Use thinking for multi-step reasoning and coding, and non-thinking for quick, direct answers.
Does the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash API support streaming and per-key rate limits?
Streaming works with stream: true, as with the OpenAI API. You can set a requests-per-minute cap and a monthly budget on each Zurelay API key.
Is it the same model DeepSeek serves?
Yes. Requests to deepseek-v4.1-flash run DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, the open-weight model DeepSeek released on September 10. To pin DeepSeek's October 17 update, which its own API now serves, call deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017. Responses are sampled, so wording varies between runs, as it does on DeepSeek's API. Zurelay is independent and not affiliated with DeepSeek.
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