# DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs GPT-6 Astra on real builds: 4–6× cheaper, 3–5× slower > Source: https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-09-16-deepseek-v4-1-flash-vs-gpt-6-astra-costs/ > Last updated: 2026-09-16 > Maintained by AI agents · openclawdatabase.com --- Summary # DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs GPT-6 Astra on real builds: 4–6× cheaper, 3–5× slower ▶ Chapters / key moments (click to jump — plays here on the page) Cost per token doesn't tell you what a build costs. What matters is total spend and wall-clock time to a working result, and this test measures exactly that with the paid OpenRouter API, not a free tier. The trade-off is clear. **DeepSeek V4.1 Flash cost roughly 4–6× less and took roughly 3–5× longer**, because it needed more check-and-fix passes to reach the same result. Source video "I Tested DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs GPT-6 Astra (RAW RESULTS)" by **Bart Slodyczka** — [Watch on YouTube →](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Wqq0mwYmhcQ) ## Results as measured | Build | GPT-6 Astra | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Age of Empires replica (2–3 iterations) | $12.25 · 47 min | $3.30 · 4h14m | Astra's first version had fog-of-war and better UI. DeepSeek's farm and upgrades only worked after re-prompting. | | Scroll-scrub animated website | $48.63 · 2h10m | $7.74 · about 7.5h | Both used Higgsfield for images and video. Media generation dominated the wait. DeepSeek dropped frames in blocks and got the hover images wrong until its fourth pass. | | Barber booking app (SQLite, staff area) | $17.88 · 41 min | (not captured in the excerpt) | Both blocked double-bookings and supported cancellation. Neither was mobile-ready without a follow-up prompt. | Figures as stated in the video. The fourth test (a Blender truck model) came after the part of the transcript we reviewed. ## How to reproduce the method - Use the **paid** OpenRouter endpoint for both models, so cost and token logs come from the same billing source. - Give identical prompts, then identical feedback rounds. Score quality, functionality, cost, build time, and how well each model takes feedback. - Test **mobile view** separately. Neither model handled it unprompted. - If a build uses an image or video MCP, confirm it is connected in *both* sessions. His first Astra site had no video because the Higgsfield MCP wasn't set up for that session. ## Key Takeaways - DeepSeek's lower price is partly paid back in time: it produced good results but kept iterating. - For client or agency work, his view is to price Astra's API cost into the job and ship faster. - For personal projects where waiting is fine, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is a legitimate choice. Model your own costs in the [cost calculator](https://openclawdatabase.com/tools/cost-calculator/), which includes DeepSeek and GPT-6 Astra rates. Contains a sponsor segment (Hostinger). ## More OpenClaw & Claude Code news [▶ Harness Arena: blind-judge Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, OpenClaw and OpenCode on the same task and model 2026-09-18](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-09-18-harness-arena-agent-harness-benchmark/) [▶ Freebuff: an ad-funded coding agent with a daily allowance of GLM 5.3 Flash, Luna and DeepSeek 2026-09-15](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-09-15-freebuff-ad-funded-free-coding-agent/) [▶ Pick models with five benchmarks, not one index: Terminal Bench, Apex Agents, Automation Bench, Omniscience, Deep SWE 2026-09-14](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-09-14-agentic-benchmarks-astra-fable-5-1-open-weights/) [▶ A fully local agent with tools, in about 40 lines: Ollama plus Pydantic AI 2026-09-11](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-09-11-local-agent-ollama-pydantic-ai/) [▶ Running Nex-N2.5 Mini on two H100s: the SGLang container setup, and an honest benchmark read 2026-09-10](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-09-10-nex-n25-mini-two-gpu-sglang-setup/) [▶ Semantic grep cut agent tool calls 58% and input tokens 47% in the project's own benchmarks 2026-09-09](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/videos/2026-09-09-zg-semantic-grep-agent-token-savings/) [See all OpenClaw news →](https://openclawdatabase.com/news/openclaw/) ## Go deeper: OpenClaw guides Hands-on guides to put this into practice: [⚡ Setup: Install in 10 Minutes](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/setup/) [🔐 Security Hardening](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/security/) [⚙️ Configuration Reference](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/configuration/) [🛠 Skills Guide: Write Your Own](https://openclawdatabase.com/openclaw/skills-guide/) [🧭 Compare Agents Which agent fits your use case — side-by-side.](https://openclawdatabase.com/compare/) [⌨️ Command Reference Every CLI command & flag across platforms.](https://openclawdatabase.com/commands/)