Google Gemini 3.5 Pro vs DeepSeek-V4 Pro: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Google Gemini 3.5 Pro (google/gemini-3.5-pro) — Google AI Startup Credits ($350K) & 95% 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.
Zero-Config Disk KV Cache ($0.022/1M) & Off-Peak UTC Batch Arbitrage
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 3.5 Pro (API ID: google/gemini-3.5-pro) vs DeepSeek-V4 Pro (API ID: deepseek-v4-pro), DeepSeek-V4 Pro offers lower standard input pricing at $0.66/1M tokens ($1.98/1M output), while DeepSeek-V4 Pro leads in cached prefix economics at $0.022/1M tokens (96.7% discount). Google Gemini 3.5 Pro achieves a 10ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (145ms vs 155ms).
Prompts exceeding 200K tokens incur 2x tier pricing unless pinned via Google AI Studio Context Caching (75% off).
Off-Peak: $0.66/$1.98 ($0.022 cache); Weekday UTC Peak (01-04 & 06-10): $1.32/$3.96 ($0.044 cache). Chinese statutory holidays count as all-day Off-Peak.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | Google Gemini 3.5 Pro | DeepSeek-V4 Pro | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | google/gemini-3.5-pro | deepseek-v4-pro | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $1 / $5 | $0.66 / $1.98 | DeepSeek-V4 Pro |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0.25/1M (95% Off) | $0.022/1M (96.7% Off) | DeepSeek-V4 Pro |
| Context Window / Max Output | 1050K In / 128K Out | 128K In / 128K Out | Google Gemini 3.5 Pro |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 145ms | 155ms | Google Gemini 3.5 Pro (-10ms) |
Google Gemini 3.5 Pro is Google DeepMind's native multimodal frontier model supporting up to 2M context tokens and implicit context caching.
DeepSeek-V4 Pro (0813) 1.6T MoE flagship: Off-Peak $0.66/$1.98 ($0.022/1M KV cache hit, 96.7% off); Weekday UTC Peak (01-04 & 06-10) 2x at $1.32/$3.96 ($0.044 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 3.5 Pro to DeepSeek-V4 Pro
DeepSeek-V4 Pro (0813) 1.6T MoE flagship: Off-Peak $0.66/$1.98 ($0.022/1M KV cache hit, 96.7% off); Weekday UTC Peak (01-04 & 06-10) 2x at $1.32/$3.96 ($0.044 cache). Verified P90 latency of 155ms.