Standard Compute
Model comparison 2026

DeepSeek V3.2 vs Gemini 3.8 Flash

DeepSeek V3.2
DeepSeek · Balanced · Open weights
$0.42/1M · 164K ctx
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Google · Balanced · Proprietary
$1.65/1M · 1.0M ctx

Community vote

Pick a winner in each dimension. You can change your vote any time.

Output Quality
Correctness and depth of what it produces
Agentic Ability
Tool calls, instruction-following, and multi-step tasks
Speed
Tokens per second and time-to-first-token
Value for money
How much capability you get per dollar
Reliability
Consistent results: fewer refusals, loops and format breaks

Specs and pricing side by side

Spec
DeepSeek V3.2
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Maker
DeepSeek
Google
Blended price / 1M
$0.42
$1.65
Input / output
$0.26 in · $0.80 out / 1M tokens
$0.75 in · $3.75 out / 1M tokens
Context window
164K
1.0M
Open weights
Yes
No
Tool use
Yes
Yes
Reasoning
Yes
Yes
Output Quality
7.6
9.1
Agentic Ability
7.4
8.9
Speed
7.8
9.2
Value for money
9.4
8.8
Reliability
8.6
8.9

Pricing and capabilities synced from the OpenRouter catalogue. Scores are editorial (0–10).

Verdict: DeepSeek V3.2 or Gemini 3.8 Flash?

Updated 2026-10-13

Choose DeepSeek V3.2 if you want dependable open-weight output on a tight budget. Choose Gemini 3.8 Flash if you want high-throughput agents and Gemini CLI users who want speed and big context.

In our editorial scoring, Gemini 3.8 Flash leads in 4 of five dimensions (output quality, agentic ability, speed and reliability), while DeepSeek V3.2 leads in 1. On price, DeepSeek V3.2 runs about $0.42 per 1M tokens (blended) and is open-weight; Gemini 3.8 Flash is about $1.65 and proprietary.

Where DeepSeek V3.2 falls short
  • Shorter 128K context
  • Superseded by V4 on quality
Full DeepSeek V3.2 breakdown →
Where Gemini 3.8 Flash falls short
  • Price doubles to $1.50/$7.50 on January 1, 2027
  • Weak on long terminal tasks (19.1% on Terminal-Bench 4.0)
Full Gemini 3.8 Flash breakdown →

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