Comparison · DeepSeek and Mistral
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 vs Mistral Small 4
Listed API prices of DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 and Mistral Small 4 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 V4.1 Flash 1017 costs $0.051 and Mistral Small 4 $0.026 at the prices listed in the United States on , so DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 is 100.0 % more than Mistral Small 4, counting visible output only, without cache discounts or hidden reasoning.
| Task | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, per task | Mistral Small 4, per task | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017, per month | Mistral Small 4, per month | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 vs Mistral Small 4, per task |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1Micro-task (classification or strict JSON extraction) | $0.0007per L1 task | $0.0003per L1 task | $10.07per month | $5.04per month | +100.0 % |
| L2Deep analysis over a 50,000-token document | $0.051per L2 task | $0.026per L2 task | $748.98per month | $374.49per month | +100.0 % |
| L3Agentic coding loop, 15 steps | $0.405per L3 task | $0.203per L3 task | $5,919.57per month | $2,959.78per month | +100.0 % |
Calculated Per month: 20 tasks an hour around the clock, 730 hours.
Prices USD per 1M tokens
| Price | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Input, per 1M tokens | $0.300 | $0.150 |
| Output, per 1M tokens | $1.20 | $0.600 |
| Price from | Provider's price list · source page Published | OpenRouter · source page (data) Published |
| Read | · the United States | · the United States |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
What can I use it for? six common tasks, our data checks
Quality on your task: not measured by Measured Lab yet.
| Task | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 | Mistral Small 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Answer customer messages | Fits on price and context | Fits on price and context |
| Pull data from invoices and documents with strict JSON and page images | Not confirmed: a strict JSON schema request was refused in our test call on 17 Oct 2026 | Fits on price and context |
| Summarize documents and meetings | Fits on price and context | Fits on price and context |
| Translate content | Fits on price and context | Fits on price and context |
| Chat assistant on your website | Fits on price and context | Fits on price and context |
| Write and review code with tool calls | Fits on price and context | Fits on price and context |
| Tasks it fits | 5 of 6 | 6 of 6 |
Checks of our data for six common tasks: a published price, a context window and answer length for the task and, where the task needs them, strict JSON output, page images and tool calls; prices, cost a month and terms for each model on its model card. Compare models for your own task in the model picker.
What breaks when you switch Published provider documentation
Moving from DeepSeek to Mistral, 1 of the 5 features may not carry over, by each provider’s documentation:
- Reasoning with tools — DeepSeek: yes; Mistral: not stated. Switching reasoning on can rule out some tool settings or output formats, or the other way round.
Moving from Mistral to DeepSeek, 2 of the 5 features may not carry over, by each provider’s documentation:
- Strict JSON schemas — Mistral: yes; DeepSeek: partly. Code that parses answers without checks starts failing where a provider promises only valid JSON, not your schema.
- Parallel tool calls — Mistral: 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 | Mistral |
|---|---|---|
| Strict JSON schemas | Partly | Yes |
| Parallel tool calls | Not stated | Yes |
| Streamed tool arguments | Not stated | Not stated |
| Reasoning with tools | Yes | Not stated |
| 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 V4.1 Flash 1017 changed on on OpenRouter: input $0.30 → $0.0060, output $1.20 → $0.50 per 1M tokens. Briefing