DeepSeek V4-Pro vs GPT-5.4 Nano

DeepSeek · China  |  OpenAI · US · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Pick DeepSeek V4-Pro for open-weight 1.6t moe (~49b active) — deepseek's largest, self-hostable or 1m-token context with up to 384k output tokens. Pick GPT-5.4 Nano for cheapest gpt-5.4-family tier at $0.20/$1.25 — built for high-volume, latency-sensitive work or classification, extraction, ranking and sub-agent execution at scale. Choose DeepSeek V4-Pro if you need self-hosting or data privacy; GPT-5.4 Nano if you want a managed API.

DeepSeek V4-Pro (DeepSeek, China) and GPT-5.4 Nano (OpenAI, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. DeepSeek V4-Pro is deepSeek's 1.6-trillion-parameter open-weight model at $0.435/$0.87 — strong open-weight coding and a 1M context at a fraction of flagship prices. GPT-5.4 Nano is openAI's cheapest GPT-5.4 variant at $0.20/$1.25 with a 400K window — a speed-and-cost tier for high-volume tasks, not deep reasoning. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecDeepSeek V4-ProGPT-5.4 Nano
ProviderDeepSeek (China) OpenAI (US)
ReleasedApril 24, 2026 March 17, 2026
Context window1M (~1,500 pages) 400K (~600 pages)
Price (in/out)$0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens $0.2/$1.25 per 1M tokens
Open weight?Yes — self-hostable No — API only
Modalitiestext, code text, image, code
SWE-Bench VerifiedNot published Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published Not published

Who wins what

Open-weight 1.6T MoE (~49B active) — DeepSeek's largest, self-hostable

DeepSeek V4-Pro

Open weights make this possible at all — GPT-5.4 Nano is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.

1M-token context with up to 384K output tokens

DeepSeek V4-Pro

Its 1M window holds about 2.5× more than GPT-5.4 Nano's 400K in a single prompt.

Permanent low pricing at $0.435/$0.87 per million, set May 2026

DeepSeek V4-Pro

DeepSeek's 1.6-trillion-parameter open-weight model at $0.435/$0.87 — strong open-weight coding and a 1M context at a fraction of flagship prices — and it carries the larger 1M context.

Cheapest GPT-5.4-family tier at $0.20/$1.25 — built for high-volume, latency-sensitive work

GPT-5.4 Nano

At $0.2/$1.25 per 1M tokens it undercuts DeepSeek V4-Pro ($0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.

Classification, extraction, ranking and sub-agent execution at scale

GPT-5.4 Nano

OpenAI's cheapest GPT-5.4 variant at $0.20/$1.25 with a 400K window — a speed-and-cost tier for high-volume tasks, not deep reasoning — and it runs cheaper at $0.2/$1.25 per 1M tokens.

A 400K context in the smallest, fastest GPT-5.4 variant

GPT-5.4 Nano

DeepSeek V4-Pro is comparatively weak here — pro and Pro-Max variants are quoted with different scores

Lowest cost at scale

GPT-5.4 Nano

At $0.2/$1.25 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.

Largest single-prompt input

DeepSeek V4-Pro

Its 1M window is about 2.5× larger than GPT-5.4 Nano's 400K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.

Which should you pick?

A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume

GPT-5.4 Nano

At $0.2/$1.25 per 1M tokens it undercuts DeepSeek V4-Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

DeepSeek V4-Pro

Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.

A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs

DeepSeek V4-Pro

Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; GPT-5.4 Nano is API-only.

Anyone whose priority is open-weight 1.6t moe (~49b active) — deepseek's largest, self-hostable

DeepSeek V4-Pro

It is specifically built for that.

Anyone whose priority is cheapest gpt-5.4-family tier at $0.20/$1.25 — built for high-volume, latency-sensitive work

GPT-5.4 Nano

That is its strongest area.

An enterprise with regional data-residency rules

GPT-5.4 Nano or DeepSeek V4-Pro

Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.

DeepSeek V4-Pro: where it fits

DeepSeek's 1.6-trillion-parameter open-weight model at $0.435/$0.87 — strong open-weight coding and a 1M context at a fraction of flagship prices. Released April 24, 2026 by DeepSeek, it is built for open-weight 1.6T MoE (~49B active) — DeepSeek's largest, self-hostable, 1M-token context with up to 384K output tokens, permanent low pricing at $0.435/$0.87 per million, set May 2026, and sources place it near the top of open-weight coding, around 80 on SWE-Bench Verified.

Its trade-offs are real: independent SWE-Bench Verified placement is inconsistent across sources, pro and Pro-Max variants are quoted with different scores, text and code only — no image, audio or video, and overlaps DeepSeek V4 and V3.2 already in this comparison. At $0.435 in / $0.87 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.

GPT-5.4 Nano: where it fits

OpenAI's cheapest GPT-5.4 variant at $0.20/$1.25 with a 400K window — a speed-and-cost tier for high-volume tasks, not deep reasoning. Released March 17, 2026 by OpenAI, it is built for cheapest GPT-5.4-family tier at $0.20/$1.25 — built for high-volume, latency-sensitive work, classification, extraction, ranking and sub-agent execution at scale, a 400K context in the smallest, fastest GPT-5.4 variant, and text and image input for cheap multimodal pipelines.

Its trade-offs: a nano tier — not built for hard reasoning or frontier coding, no published SWE-Bench Verified score (OpenAI reported SWE-Bench Pro instead), outclassed by GPT-5.4 and GPT-5.4 Mini whenever a task needs real depth, and image input only — no audio or video. At $0.2 in / $1.25 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.

The bottom line for this matchup

The defining split here is open vs. closed. DeepSeek V4-Pro gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. GPT-5.4 Nano gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.

Want both DeepSeek V4-Pro and GPT-5.4 Nano without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.

See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek V4-Pro or GPT-5.4 Nano better for coding?

Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, DeepSeek V4-Pro leans toward open-weight 1.6t moe (~49b active) — deepseek's largest, self-hostable while GPT-5.4 Nano leans toward cheapest gpt-5.4-family tier at $0.20/$1.25 — built for high-volume, latency-sensitive work, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4-Pro or GPT-5.4 Nano?

DeepSeek V4-Pro is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while GPT-5.4 Nano is API-metered at $0.2/$1.25 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.

Which has the bigger context window?

DeepSeek V4-Pro — 1M vs 400K, about 2.5× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.

Can I use both DeepSeek V4-Pro and GPT-5.4 Nano together?

Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you DeepSeek V4-Pro, GPT-5.4 Nano and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.

Which is newer, DeepSeek V4-Pro or GPT-5.4 Nano?

DeepSeek V4-Pro — released April 24, 2026, about 38 days after GPT-5.4 Nano.

Related comparisons

Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.