Google Gemini 3.1 Pro vs DeepSeek-V4 Flash: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Google Gemini 3.1 Pro (gemini-3.1-pro) — Google AI Startup Credits ($350K) & 90% Cache Promo
Google DeepMind is currently subsidizing Gemini 4 Argon at 50% off standard rates ($2.00/1M input & $10.00/1M output instead of $4/$20) until November 30, 2026, alongside 95% off Context Caching ($0.10/1M) and up to $350,000 in Google for Startups Cloud/Vertex AI credits.
DeepSeek-V4 Flash (deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017) — Automatic Disk KV Cache (0.003/1M) & Off-Peak Promo
DeepSeek-V4 Pro (1.6T MoE) automatically caches repeated 64-token prompt prefixes on NVMe storage at $0.022/1M off-peak input tokens (vs $0.66 off-peak base) with zero code changes required, plus off-peak UTC scheduling discounts.
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing Google Gemini 3.1 Pro (API ID: gemini-3.1-pro) vs DeepSeek-V4 Flash (API ID: deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017), DeepSeek-V4 Flash offers lower standard input pricing at $0.15/1M tokens ($0.6/1M output), while DeepSeek-V4 Flash leads in cached prefix economics at $0.003/1M tokens (98% discount). DeepSeek-V4 Flash achieves a 175ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (115ms vs 290ms).
Enable Prompt Context Caching & Batch API to reduce repeated system prompt input token burn by 50%-97.5%.
Off-Peak: $0.15/$0.60 ($0.003 cache); Weekday UTC Peak: $0.30/$1.20 ($0.006 cache). Search/Fetch API ($0.75/1K) begins billing 2026-10-31T16:00:00Z (Nov 1 00:00 Beijing).
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | Google Gemini 3.1 Pro | DeepSeek-V4 Flash | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | gemini-3.1-pro | deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017 | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $2 / $12 | $0.15 / $0.6 | DeepSeek-V4 Flash |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0.2/1M (90% Off) | $0.003/1M (98% Off) | DeepSeek-V4 Flash |
| Context Window / Max Output | 2000K In / 128K Out | 128K In / 64K Out | Google Gemini 3.1 Pro |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 290ms | 115ms | DeepSeek-V4 Flash (-175ms) |
Google 2M context multimodal model (<=200K: $2.00/$12.00, $0.20 cache; >200K cliff: $4.00/$18.00, 180K soft-block).
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 high-speed coding & triage model: Off-Peak $0.15/$0.60 ($0.003/1M KV cache hit, 98% off); Peak $0.30/$1.20 ($0.006 cache).
Real-Time Stack Cost & Hidden-Fee Simulator (MAU / Token / Egress / GMV)
Calibrated with Reddit r/FinOps & r/devops telemetry: Includes Context Caching, Bandwidth Egress, and MoR Tax
🐬Switch from Google Gemini 3.1 Pro to DeepSeek-V4 Flash
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 high-speed coding & triage model: Off-Peak $0.15/$0.60 ($0.003/1M KV cache hit, 98% off); Peak $0.30/$1.20 ($0.006 cache). Verified P90 latency of 115ms.