GPT-6 Luna vs DeepSeek Flash (4.1)
GPT-6 Luna scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (74 vs 42 out of 100). GPT-6 Luna is about 2.6× cheaper per blended million tokens ($0.20 vs $0.52).
| GPT-6 Luna · OpenAI | DeepSeek Flash (4.1) · DeepSeek | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard rank | #13 | #26 |
| Score (0–100) | 74 | 42 |
| Tier | Fast and cheap | Fast and cheap |
| Price per 1M tokens | $0.10 in · $0.50 out | $0.30 in · $1.20 out |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Open weights | No | Not verified |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 38 | — |
| Best for | ChatGPT Free and Go tier, Simple extraction, Cost floors | Cheap coding tiers, Bulk generation, Experiments where data residency is not a constraint |
Choose GPT-6 Luna if…
- you need chatgpt free and go tier
- you need simple extraction
- you need cost floors
OpenAI's ten-cent model: the one every ChatGPT Free user now has, and the one Haiku users keep comparing themselves to.
Choose DeepSeek Flash (4.1) if…
- you need cheap coding tiers
- you need bulk generation
- you need experiments where data residency is not a constraint
The reason a thousand people argued on Hacker News this week: frontier-adjacent coding for pocket change, with the caveats you would expect.
Caveats: Open-weights status and licence not verified from a primary source at time of writing. Off-peak and peak pricing differ; the cheap numbers are off-peak. Data handling terms should be read before any enterprise use.
What practitioners say
DeepSeek Flash (4.1): The 'why isn't the industry freaking out' post hit 1,067 points; the most-upvoted replies say the price is real and the coding gap to Opus is also real.
Questions people ask
Which is better, GPT-6 Luna or DeepSeek Flash (4.1)?
GPT-6 Luna scores higher on the Models at Work leaderboard (74 vs 42 out of 100). GPT-6 Luna is about 2.6× cheaper per blended million tokens ($0.20 vs $0.52).
When should I choose GPT-6 Luna over DeepSeek Flash (4.1)?
Choose GPT-6 Luna for chatgpt free and go tier, simple extraction, cost floors. OpenAI's ten-cent model: the one every ChatGPT Free user now has, and the one Haiku users keep comparing themselves to.
When should I choose DeepSeek Flash (4.1) over GPT-6 Luna?
Choose DeepSeek Flash (4.1) for cheap coding tiers, bulk generation, experiments where data residency is not a constraint. The reason a thousand people argued on Hacker News this week: frontier-adjacent coding for pocket change, with the caveats you would expect.
Which is cheaper, GPT-6 Luna or DeepSeek Flash (4.1)?
GPT-6 Luna costs $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens on OpenAI's list price (OpenAI API pricing, read Oct 11, 2026). DeepSeek Flash (4.1) costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens on DeepSeek's list price (DeepSeek API pricing, read Oct 11, 2026).
Scores come from the Models at Work leaderboard: Score is 0 to 100 and computed, not typed: 55% independent evals (Artificial Analysis, Arena, Scale SEAL, Epoch, each scaled against its natural floor and the best score in this table, then averaged), 15% blended price on a fixed log scale ($0.05 per million is 100, $60 is 0), 15% practitioner sentiment from Signals and community threads, 15% operational fit (context window, open weights). A missing component drops out and the rest are reweighted. A model with no independent eval yet is provisional and ranks below every measured one. Within three points is a tie. Vendor-published figures are labelled and never counted. Prices are vendor list prices where published; blended figures assume three input tokens per output token.