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DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 vs DeepSeek VL2 Small

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 leads the LLM Stats Score 51.0 to 0.9.

DeepSeek · DeepSeek · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 51.0 to 0.9, ranking #15 overall.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017

  • overall performance matters — it scores 51.0 and ranks #15 on LLM Stats
  • your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Oct 2026

Choose DeepSeek VL2 Small

  • you are already invested in the DeepSeek ecosystem

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017
DeepSeek
DeepSeek VL2 Small
DeepSeek
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
51.0
#15
0.9
#345
Reasoning
48.6
#18
-4.3
#363
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$0.30 / M
— / M
Output price
$1.20 / M
— / M
Context window
1,048,576
—

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

2 shared
Index
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017
DeepSeek VL2 Small
Vision
32.2#26
0.5#198
Multimodal
35.0#14
3.0#161
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

11 reported for DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 · 14 for DeepSeek VL2 Small

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 and DeepSeek VL2 Smalldon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

747.2B diff

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 has 747.2B more parameters than DeepSeek VL2 Small, making it 4670.0% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017
763.2Bparameters
DeepSeek
DeepSeek VL2 Small
16.0Bparameters
763.2B
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017
16.0B
DeepSeek VL2 Small

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 specifies input context (1,048,576 tokens). Only DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 specifies output context (393,216 tokens).

DeepSeek
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output393,216 tokens
DeepSeek
DeepSeek VL2 Small
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Oct 20 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 and DeepSeek VL2 Small support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017

Text
Images
Audio
Video

DeepSeek VL2 Small

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 is licensed under MIT, while DeepSeek VL2 Small uses deepseek.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017

MIT

Open weights

DeepSeek VL2 Small

deepseek

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 was released on 2026-10-17, while DeepSeek VL2 Small was released on 2024-12-13.

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 is 22 months newer than DeepSeek VL2 Small.

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017

Oct 17, 2026

3 days ago

1.8yr newer
DeepSeek VL2 Small

Dec 13, 2024

1.9 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 and DeepSeek VL2 Small side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017
✓ Preferred
DeepSeek VL2 Small
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 vs DeepSeek VL2 Small.

Which is better, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 or DeepSeek VL2 Small?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 leads the LLM Stats Score 51.0 to 0.9. DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 is made by DeepSeek and DeepSeek VL2 Small is made by DeepSeek. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 compare to DeepSeek VL2 Small in benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 scores BabyVision: 92.5%, Chartography: 83.0%, DeepSWE 1.1: 77.0%, NL2Repo: 68.2%, AutomationBench: 60.5%. DeepSeek VL2 Small scores DocVQA: 92.3%, ChartQA: 84.5%, OCRBench: 83.4%, TextVQA: 83.4%, MMBench: 80.3%.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 and DeepSeek VL2 Small?

DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 supports 1.0M tokens and DeepSeek VL2 Small supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 and DeepSeek VL2 Small?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (51.0 vs 0.9), licensing (MIT vs deepseek). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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