DEEPSEEK VS MOONSHOT AI
DeepSeek V4 Flash vs Kimi K2.6
DeepSeek V4 Flash is about 9.8x cheaper than Kimi K2.6 on a blended 3:1 input:output rate — the same 10K-in/2K-out request costs $0.002 vs $0.0175. DeepSeek V4 Flash has the larger context window (1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens).
Pricing verified
API pricing per 1M tokens
| Model | Input / 1M tokens | Output / 1M tokens | Blended (3:1 mix) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | $0.14 | $0.28 | $0.175 |
| Kimi K2.6 | $0.95 | $4.00 | $1.713 |
Rates from official DeepSeek pricing and official Moonshot AI pricing, checked 2026-08-11.
What a real workload costs
Example: one request with 10,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens, then that request at 100,000 runs per month.
| Model | Per request (10K in / 2K out) | Per month (100K requests) | Monthly delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | $0.002 | $196 | — |
| Kimi K2.6 | $0.0175 | $1,750 | +$1,554 |
Model your own prompt sizes and volumes in the token cost analyzer, or check caching savings with the prompt caching calculator.
Specs side by side
| Spec | DeepSeek V4 Flash | Kimi K2.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | Moonshot AI |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Model class | General text | General text |
| Tokenizer | Proprietary (counts estimated) | Proprietary (counts estimated) |
Count tokens for each model on its own page: DeepSeek V4 Flash token counter and Kimi K2.6 token counter. All DeepSeek models are on the DeepSeek Token Counter. All Moonshot AI models are on the Kimi Token Counter.
FAQ
DeepSeek V4 Flash vs Kimi K2.6 FAQ
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 Flash or Kimi K2.6?
DeepSeek V4 Flash is cheaper. At rates checked 2026-08-11, DeepSeek V4 Flash costs $0.14 input / $0.28 output per 1M tokens, while Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 input / $4.00 output — about a 9.8x difference on a typical 3:1 input-heavy workload.
How much does a real request cost on DeepSeek V4 Flash vs Kimi K2.6?
A request with 10,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens costs about $0.002 on DeepSeek V4 Flash and $0.0175 on Kimi K2.6. At 100,000 such requests per month that is $196 vs $1,750 — a difference of $1,554 per month.
Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek V4 Flash or Kimi K2.6?
DeepSeek V4 Flash. It supports 1,000,000 tokens of context versus 262,144 tokens — roughly 750,000 English words in one request.
Do DeepSeek V4 Flash and Kimi K2.6 count tokens the same way?
Not exactly. DeepSeek V4 Flash uses a proprietary tokenizer (counts are estimates) and Kimi K2.6 uses a proprietary tokenizer (counts are estimates). The same prompt will tokenize differently, which shifts effective cost per word.