Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) vs DeepSeek: R1: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Verified 2026 FinOps benchmark comparing Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) (google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free) vs DeepSeek: R1 (deepseek/deepseek-r1). Simulate cache read multipliers, context cliffs, MAU bills, and P90 latency.
Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) (google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free) — Google AI Startup Credits ($350K) & 50% 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: R1 (deepseek/deepseek-r1) — Automatic Disk KV Cache ($0.35/1M) & Off-Peak Promo
DeepSeek-V4 Pro (1.6T MoE) automatically caches repeated 64-token prompt prefixes on NVMe storage at $0.07/1M input tokens (50% off $0.14 base) with zero code changes required, plus off-peak UTC scheduling discounts.
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) (API ID: google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free) vs DeepSeek: R1 (API ID: deepseek/deepseek-r1), Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) offers lower standard input pricing at $0/1M tokens ($0/1M output), while Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) leads in cached prefix economics at $0/1M tokens (50% discount). Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) achieves a 0ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (280ms vs 280ms).
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) | DeepSeek: R1 | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | google/gemma-4-26b-a4b-it:free | deepseek/deepseek-r1 | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $0 / $0 | $0.7 / $2.5 | Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0/1M (50% Off) | $0.35/1M (50% Off) | Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) |
| Context Window / Max Output | 256K In / 32K Out | 63K In / 16K Out | Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 280ms | 280ms | Google: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) (-0ms) |
Gemma 4 26B A4B IT is an instruction-tuned Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) model from Google DeepMind. Despite 25.2B total parameters, only 3.8B activate per token during inference — deli
DeepSeek R1 is here: Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 671B parameters in size, with 37B active in an inf
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: Gemma 4 26B A4B (free) to DeepSeek: R1
DeepSeek R1 is here: Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 671B parameters in size, with 37B active in an inf Verified P90 latency of 280ms.