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DeepSeek VL2 Small vs North Micro Vision Instruct

DeepSeek VL2 Small leads the LLM Stats Score 1.2 to -5.1.

DeepSeek · Cohere · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

DeepSeek VL2 Small leads the overall LLM Stats Score 1.2 to -5.1, ranking #327 overall.

In the 8 individual benchmarks reported for both models, DeepSeek VL2 Small wins 8; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

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

Choose DeepSeek VL2 Small

  • overall performance matters — it scores 1.2 and ranks #327 on LLM Stats
  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 8 of 8 exact shared results

Choose North Micro Vision Instruct

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

DeepSeek VL2 Small
DeepSeek
North Micro Vision Instruct
Cohere
Core performance indexes
LLM Stats Score
1.2
#327
-5.1
#361
Reasoning
-4.0
#345
-7.8
#361
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
8 of 8
0 of 8
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
—
—

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

2 shared
Index
DeepSeek VL2 Small
North Micro Vision Instruct
Vision
0.6#183
-5.0#204
Multimodal
3.2#147
-3.2#167
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

14 reported for DeepSeek VL2 Small · 19 for North Micro Vision Instruct

8 shared

DeepSeek VL2 Small outperforms in 8 benchmarks (AI2D, ChartQA, DocVQA, InfoVQA, MMBench-V1.1, MMStar, OCRBench, RealWorldQA), while North Micro Vision Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

DeepSeek VL2 Small significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Sep 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

13.6B diff

DeepSeek VL2 Small has 13.6B more parameters than North Micro Vision Instruct, making it 566.7% larger.

DeepSeek
DeepSeek VL2 Small
16.0Bparameters
Cohere
North Micro Vision Instruct
2.4Bparameters
16.0B
DeepSeek VL2 Small
2.4B
North Micro Vision Instruct

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both DeepSeek VL2 Small and North Micro Vision Instruct support multimodal inputs.

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

DeepSeek VL2 Small

Text
Images
Audio
Video

North Micro Vision Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek VL2 Small is licensed under deepseek, while North Micro Vision Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

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

DeepSeek VL2 Small

deepseek

Open weights

North Micro Vision Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek VL2 Small was released on 2024-12-13, while North Micro Vision Instruct was released on 2026-08-12.

North Micro Vision Instruct is 20 months newer than DeepSeek VL2 Small.

DeepSeek VL2 Small

Dec 13, 2024

1.8 years ago

North Micro Vision Instruct

Aug 12, 2026

1 months ago

1.7yr newer

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?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek VL2 Small and North Micro Vision Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek VL2 Small
✓ Preferred
North Micro Vision Instruct
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek VL2 Small vs North Micro Vision Instruct.

Which is better, DeepSeek VL2 Small or North Micro Vision Instruct?

DeepSeek VL2 Small leads the LLM Stats Score 1.2 to -5.1. DeepSeek VL2 Small is made by DeepSeek and North Micro Vision Instruct is made by Cohere. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does DeepSeek VL2 Small compare to North Micro Vision Instruct in benchmarks?

DeepSeek VL2 Small scores DocVQA: 92.3%, ChartQA: 84.5%, OCRBench: 83.4%, TextVQA: 83.4%, MMBench: 80.3%. North Micro Vision Instruct scores DocVQA: 92.1%, ChartQA: 80.8%, OCRBench: 79.2%, AI2D: 77.5%, IFEval: 74.9%.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek VL2 Small and North Micro Vision Instruct?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (1.2 vs -5.1), licensing (deepseek vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek VL2 Small and North Micro Vision Instruct?

DeepSeek VL2 Small is developed by DeepSeek and North Micro Vision Instruct is developed by Cohere.

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