DeepSeek-V3 / V4 class is a Flagship MoE from DeepSeek (China).
One-line fit: best used for Bulk intelligence, coding.
Key specifications
| Provider | DeepSeek |
|---|---|
| Model | DeepSeek-V3 / V4 class |
| Type | Flagship MoE |
| Context window | 128K+ |
| Pricing (indicative) | Very low API |
| Company category | Frontier Lab |
| Region | China |
| Official site | https://www.deepseek.com |
Benchmarks and public standing
Near-frontier MMLU/coding at fraction of US price
Treat scores as directional. SWE-bench, Terminal-Bench, LMSYS Arena, Artificial Analysis, and vendor cards use different harnesses and are not always comparable 1:1. Re-check the latest official model card before decisions.
What this model is good at
Bulk intelligence, coding
This aligns with DeepSeek’s broader strengths:
- Price/performance reasoning
- Coding value
- Open-weight releases
- High-volume API
Limitations and watch-outs
Ecosystem/tools vs Claude Code
- Rate limits, regional availability, and data retention policies vary by plan.
- Agent harness quality (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, custom tools) can change outcomes more than raw model Elo.
- Open-weight availability (if any) is separate from hosted API quality and safety filters.
Ideal users
- Product engineers shipping features that match: Bulk intelligence, coding
- Teams standardizing on the DeepSeek ecosystem
- Agent builders who need a Flagship MoE
When to pick something else
- Cheaper volume: compare lower tiers from the same lab or open Chinese/EU alternatives.
- Maximum hard SWE thoughtfulness: compare Claude Fable-class and other coding flagships.
- Giant multimodal corpora / Workspace: compare Gemini-class models.
- Self-host / open weights: Llama, Qwen, DeepSeek, GLM, Mistral open lines.
Parent company
DeepSeek – Breakout Chinese lab known for strong open/cheap reasoning and coding models that reset global pricing assumptions.
Related models from DeepSeek
- DeepSeek-R1 reasoning – Reasoning
- DeepSeek-Coder family – Code LLM
Data is curated for AIForumSphere model directory mid-2026 directional figures.
