Comparison · DeepSeek and Qwen
DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp vs Qwen3.8 27B
Listed API prices of DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp and Qwen3.8 27B turned into the cost of the same three standard tasks and what each provider’s API documentation says about features that break on a switch. Output quality, speed and answer length are not compared.
Calculated impact cost per task and per month
For an L2 task (deep analysis over a 50,000-token document, 3 steps), DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp costs $0.074 and Qwen3.8 27B $0.139 at the prices listed in the United States on , so DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp is 46.9 % less than Qwen3.8 27B, counting visible output only, without cache discounts or hidden reasoning.
| Task | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, per task | Qwen3.8 27B, per task | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp, per month | Qwen3.8 27B, per month | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp vs Qwen3.8 27B, per task |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1Micro-task (classification or strict JSON extraction) | $0.0009per L1 task | $0.0020per L1 task | $13.49per month | $29.20per month | −53.8 % |
| L2Deep analysis over a 50,000-token document | $0.074per L2 task | $0.139per L2 task | $1,079.23per month | $2,032.32per month | −46.9 % |
| L3Agentic coding loop, 15 steps | $0.591per L3 task | $1.09per L3 task | $8,624.22per month | $15,890.64per month | −45.7 % |
Calculated Per month: 20 tasks an hour around the clock, 730 hours.
Prices USD per 1M tokens
| Price | DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp | Qwen3.8 27B |
|---|---|---|
| Input, per 1M tokens | $0.440 | $0.800 |
| Output, per 1M tokens | $1.32 | $4.00 |
| Price from | OpenRouter · source page (data) Published | Provider's price list · source page Published |
| Read | · the United States | · the United States |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,024,000 tokens |
What breaks when you switch Published provider documentation
Moving from DeepSeek to Qwen: every feature that DeepSeek’s documentation lists as supported is also listed as supported by Qwen.
Moving from Qwen to DeepSeek, 1 of the 5 features may not carry over, by each provider’s documentation:
- Parallel tool calls — Qwen: yes; DeepSeek: not stated. An agent built around several calls per turn gets one call per turn: more round trips, more input tokens, slower runs.
| Feature of the API | DeepSeek | Qwen |
|---|---|---|
| Strict JSON schemas | Partly | Partly |
| Parallel tool calls | Not stated | Yes |
| Streamed tool arguments | Not stated | Not stated |
| Reasoning with tools | Yes | Yes |
| Cache covers tool definitions | Not stated | Not stated |
What each provider’s own API documentation says, read ; “not stated” is not the same as “no”. Quotes and sources: what breaks when you switch AI APIs.
Price changes in the last 30 days
- The listed price of DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.22 → $0.44, output $0.65 → $1.32 per 1M tokens. Briefing
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.24 → $0.04, output $2.20 → $1.35 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.04 → $0.20, output $1.35 → $2.50 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.20 → $0.04, output $2.50 → $1.25 per 1M tokens.
- The listed price of Qwen3.8 27B changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.04 → $0.15, output $1.25 → $1.88 per 1M tokens.