DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs MiniMax M2.5
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads MiniMax M2.5 on coding, 62.5 to 37.2 on the Vibe Coding Index, and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs 1.4x less per output token ($0.84 vs $1.20 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 48 benchmarks have a result for both.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or MiniMax M2.5: which to pick
Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for coding: it scores 62.5 on the Vibe Coding Index against 37.2 for MiniMax M2.5.
MiniMax M2.5 is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
- Shared results
- 48
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash only
- 53
- MiniMax M2.5 only
- 20
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash scores 62.5 against 37.2.
5 and 3 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads, 24.7 against 22.8.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has a GPQA Diamond result, 82.1%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has a AIME result, 88.8%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has a MMLU Pro result, 80.1%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads, 1308 against 1222.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash takes 1.05M tokens against 205K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash $0.0006, MiniMax M2.5 $0.0009 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only MiniMax M2.5 has the number, $0.62.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 62.5 from 5 benchmarks, MiniMax M2.5 37.2 from 3 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Coding, 32.4 points apart on average over 7 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 84.7% against MiniMax M2.5 14.8%, 69.9 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash $0.84 against MiniMax M2.5 $1.20 per million output tokens, 1.4x apart.
- Context window
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash takes 1.05M tokens, MiniMax M2.5 205K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Bars | MiniMax M2.5 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 7 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 2 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 6 | 0 | ||
| Math | 3 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 5 | 0 | ||
| Web design | 7 | 0 | ||
| General | 18 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 48 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index70
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | Not measured | 75.8% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| SWE-bench Multilingual | Not measured | 68.3% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LiveBench coding | 90.2% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1618 | 1386 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 79.2% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | Not measured | 74.2% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | 19.7% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 84.7% | 14.8% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 45.6% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.5% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| IOI (Vals AI) | 40.3% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 74.5% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | 46.5% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Vibe Code Bench 1-100 (Vals AI) | 16.4% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SkillsBench (Vals AI) | 69.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | 73.7% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SciCode | 51.9% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 34.8% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Terminal-Bench | Not measured | 42.7% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| FrontierCode | 43.9% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| ALE-Bench | 1092.3 | 618.2 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1502 | 1380 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1496 | 1383 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1628 | 1374 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1612 | 1414 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | 1606 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 24.7 | 22.8 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 155.9 | 146.6 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index14 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench research | 86.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench browser | 84.0% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | 40.1% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SREBench (Vals AI) | 0.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 53.5% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 26.6% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 41.4% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 57.2% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| BioMysteryBench (Vals AI) | 67.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Vals Science Index | 29.6% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 95.3% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| APEX-Agents | 39.5% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | Not measured | -$23 | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 27 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index60
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 82.1% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LiveBench reasoning | 86.7% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | 21.2% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 84.8% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 39.2% | 20.5% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 89.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| ARC-AGI | 94.5% | 63.7% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| ARC-AGI-2 | 72.9% | 4.9% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Chess puzzles | 48.0% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | 43.0% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1483 | 1372 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1501 | 1378 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1488 | 1384 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | 1297 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | 1307 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | Not measured | 55.2% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index30
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | Not measured | 88.8% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | 98.3% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 67.4% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | 26.8% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| ProofBench | 54.0% | 4.0% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: math | 1478 | 1378 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1485 | 1378 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index50
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | Not measured | 80.1% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 83.3% | 80.0% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | Not measured | 53.5% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | Not measured | 59.6% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | Not measured | 68.2% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 92.5% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 41.2% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 42.9% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1469 | 1369 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1484 | 1357 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1443 | 1366 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1461 | 1356 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index70
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1308 | 1222 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1312 | 1170 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1330 | 1176 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1291 | 1172 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1355 | 1170 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1319 | 1207 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1244 | 1150 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | 1265 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LiveBench design | 79.2% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index180
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench data analysis | 79.3% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 64.3% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | 47.9% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 85.5% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| IFBench | Not measured | 71.6% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 84.0% | 73.3% | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| DTBench | 89.9% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMCA | 47.0% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| CL-bench | Not measured | 11.4% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| Surface Evolver Bench | 46.3% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Furniture assembly | 34.2% | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| CL-bench Life | Not measured | 6.3% | Only MiniMax M2.5 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1464 | 1359 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1473 | 1353 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1437 | 1331 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Vision | 1278 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1473 | 1380 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1449 | 1338 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1501 | 1393 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: German | 1470 | 1361 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1432 | 1171 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1436 | 1233 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: French | 1465 | 1363 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1459 | 1353 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1467 | 1359 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1457 | 1334 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1461 | 1364 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1473 | 1366 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1450 | 1345 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1445 | 1329 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LMArena Vision: English | 1288 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | 1327 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | 1282 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: humor | 1260 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | 1275 | Not measured | Only DeepSeek V4.1 Flash measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 11 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | MiniMax M2.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | DeepSeek | MiniMax |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | September 10, 2026 | February 12, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 205K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.21 | $0.30 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.84 | $1.20 |
| Coding index | 62.5 | 37.2 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 5 | 3 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $0.62 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash better than MiniMax M2.5 for coding?
Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for coding: it scores 62.5 on the Vibe Coding Index against 37.2 for MiniMax M2.5. MiniMax M2.5 is neither cheaper nor larger in context, and leads no benchmark both models were measured on.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or MiniMax M2.5?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.21 per million input tokens and $0.84 per million output tokens; MiniMax M2.5 costs $0.30 and $1.20. Cost per solved task is known for MiniMax M2.5 only.
Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or MiniMax M2.5?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, with 1.05M tokens against 205K.
How many benchmarks is the DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs MiniMax M2.5 comparison based on?
48 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash's coding index rests on 5 independent benchmarks and MiniMax M2.5's on 3. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.