Model comparison

vs

Kimi K3.1 Pro vs DeepSeek V4 Pro

Moonshot AI against DeepSeek, compared on listed price, real workload cost, context and capabilities.

The short answer

  • DeepSeek V4 Pro lists lower input and output prices.
  • Kimi K3.1 Pro supports vision; DeepSeek V4 Pro does not.
  • DeepSeek V4 Pro reads cached input for less ($0.044/M against Kimi K3.1 Pro's $0.2/M), which decides the bill for agents that resend long context.

Side-by-side specs

SpecKimi K3.1 ProDeepSeek V4 Pro
ProviderMoonshot AIDeepSeek
Input price$2/M$1.32/M
Output price$10/M$3.96/M
Cached input$0.2/M$0.044/M
Blended price (3:1)$4/M$1.98/M
Context window1M tokens1M tokens
Max output—384k tokens
InputText, ImagesText
Structured outputYesYes
WeightsClosedOpen (MIT)
ReleasedOctober 2026April 24, 2026

Same work, both models

WorkloadKimi K3.1 ProDeepSeek V4 Pro
One chat reply3,000 tokens in, 500 outKimi K3.1 Pro costs 1.9× as much as DeepSeek V4 Pro$0.01$0.0059
Summarise a 100-page report50,000 tokens in, 1,500 out, one requestKimi K3.1 Pro costs 1.6× as much as DeepSeek V4 Pro$0.12$0.07
1,000 classification calls500 tokens in, 20 out, per call$1.20$0.74
Coding-agent session2M tokens in across ~60 turns, 60,000 out, no cache$4.60$2.88
Same session, cached85% of input read from the prompt cache, the rest written to itKimi K3.1 Pro costs 2.2× as much as DeepSeek V4 Pro$1.54$0.71

At listed rates. Token counts are typical sizes, not measurements.

Kimi K3.1 Pro pricing notes

  • Not included in any plan: every request bills from credits.
  • Context caching is automatic: cache hits bill at $0.20 per 1M input tokens, a tenth of the input rate.
  • Thinking is always on, at max effort by default, and reasoning tokens bill at the output rate.

DeepSeek V4 Pro pricing notes

  • Since 2026-08-16 16:00 UTC DeepSeek's own API bills peak and off-peak; the listed price is the peak rate, and off-peak is half ($0.66 / $1.98).
  • On DeepSeek's API, peak is 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC Monday-Friday, excluding Chinese public holidays.

When to pick which

Kimi K3.1 Pro

The first model of Moonshot AI's K3.1 series and its most capable Kimi to date: a 3T-class reasoning model with native vision and a 1M-token context. It costs a third less per token than Kimi K3; Moonshot says full weights ship by November 4, 2026.

Pick it if

  • you want Moonshot's current flagship at a lower rate than Kimi K3
  • your prompts outgrow the 256K context of Kimi 2.6 and 2.7 Code
  • you resend long prompts, so cache hits bill at a tenth of input

Skip it if

  • you need temperature or top_p control: they are fixed
  • Kimi 2.6 or 2.7 Code covers your workload at a lower rate

DeepSeek V4 Pro

DeepSeek's larger V4 model: 1.6T total parameters (49B active), text-only, with a 1M-token context and selectable thinking effort. Previewed in April 2026 and generally available from 2026-08-13, it sits above V4.1 Flash, which costs less and also reads images.

Pick it if

  • want DeepSeek's largest V4 model with MIT-licensed open weights
  • resend long prompts: cache hits bill $0.044 per 1M versus $1.32
  • need low / high / max thinking effort for agent workflows

Skip it if

  • you need image input; V4.1 Flash accepts images
  • V4.1 Flash at $0.30 / $1.20 already covers your workload

FAQ

Which is cheaper, Kimi K3.1 Pro or DeepSeek V4 Pro?

DeepSeek V4 Pro lists lower input and output prices. On a coding-agent session (2M tokens in, 60,000 out) Kimi K3.1 Pro costs $4.60 and DeepSeek V4 Pro $2.88.

Which one accepts images?

Kimi K3.1 Pro supports vision; DeepSeek V4 Pro does not.

Can I switch between Kimi K3.1 Pro and DeepSeek V4 Pro mid-task?

Yes. In an Octomind session, /model octohub:kimi-k3.1-pro and /model octohub:deepseek-v4-pro switch models without losing the conversation, so you can draft on one and review on the other.

Try either model

Switch between models inside the same Octomind session.

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Prices from the catalog of 2026-10-31