DeepSeek vs Novita AI
A comparison of DeepSeek and Novita AI built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
- Pick DeepSeek if
- Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.
- Pick Novita AI if
- Breadth — 200+ models under one API with a cache-read rate published next to most of them, and an H100 SXM at $3.39 an hour if the same vendor should run the dedicated side too.
5 sourced criteria separate them:
- Pricing model
- DeepSeek: Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses.
- Novita AI: Per-token serverless inference with a cache-read rate published beside most models, and GPU instances offered at both on-demand and spot rates — the spot column is roughly half. Two models, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Sante, are listed at no charge on both input and output.
- Input price, top model
- DeepSeek: $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak.
- Novita AI: $2.00 per million input tokens for Qwen3.8 Max, the most expensive model in its catalogue, with cache reads at $0.25 and output at $6.00.
- Output price, top model
- DeepSeek: $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak.
- Novita AI: $6.00 per million output tokens for Qwen3.8 Max.
- Input price, cheapest model
- DeepSeek: $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak.
- Novita AI: $0.075 per million input tokens for GLM 5.3 Flash at short context, rising to $0.15 above the threshold, with cache reads at $0.015 and output at $0.25. Fireworks serves the same model at $0.15.
- Context window
- DeepSeek: 1M tokens on every model in the current line.
- Novita AI: 1M tokens on the DeepSeek V4 line and GLM 5.3, published as "1M" rather than an exact figure — so it is recorded at 1,000,000 and may in practice be the 1,048,576 other providers state. Qwen3.8 is listed at 977K.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
DeepSeek 0
Novita AI 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | DeepSeek | Novita AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses. | Per-token serverless inference with a cache-read rate published beside most models, and GPU instances offered at both on-demand and spot rates — the spot column is roughly half. Two models, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Sante, are listed at no charge on both input and output. |
| Inference | ||
| Input price, top model | $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak. | $2.00 per million input tokens for Qwen3.8 Max, the most expensive model in its catalogue, with cache reads at $0.25 and output at $6.00. |
| Output price, top model | $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak. | $6.00 per million output tokens for Qwen3.8 Max. |
| Input price, cheapest model | $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak. | $0.075 per million input tokens for GLM 5.3 Flash at short context, rising to $0.15 above the threshold, with cache reads at $0.015 and output at $0.25. Fireworks serves the same model at $0.15. |
| Context window | 1M tokens on every model in the current line. | 1M tokens on the DeepSeek V4 line and GLM 5.3, published as "1M" rather than an exact figure — so it is recorded at 1,000,000 and may in practice be the 1,048,576 other providers state. Qwen3.8 is listed at 977K. |
| Prompt caching | Supported | Supported |
Where they differ.
Pricing model
- DeepSeek
- Per million tokens, with every rate doubling at peak: off-peak is half price, and peak is 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC on weekdays. Cache hits are priced roughly 30x below cache misses.
- Novita AI
- Per-token serverless inference with a cache-read rate published beside most models, and GPU instances offered at both on-demand and spot rates — the spot column is roughly half. Two models, Ling 3.0 Flash Fin and Sante, are listed at no charge on both input and output.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“The prices listed below are in units of per 1M tokens. [...] Off-peak rates are half of the peak rates. Peak hours are 01:00 - 04:00 and 06:00 - 10:00 UTC, Monday through Friday (all other hours are off-peak).”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“Ling 3.0 Flash Fin 256K Free Free [...] Ling 3.0 Flash Sante 256K Free Free [...] On-Demand SPOT”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
Input price, top model
- DeepSeek
- $1.32 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak on a cache miss, halving to $0.66 off-peak. A cache hit is $0.044 peak.
- Novita AI
- $2.00 per million input tokens for Qwen3.8 Max, the most expensive model in its catalogue, with cache reads at $0.25 and output at $6.00.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE MISS) OFF-PEAK $0.22 $0.66 $0.22 PEAK $0.44 $1.32 $0.44 [...] 1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE HIT) OFF-PEAK $0.007 $0.022 $0.007 PEAK $0.014 $0.044 $0.014”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“Qwen3.8 Max 977K $2 /Mt · Cache Read $0.25 /Mt $6 /Mt”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
Output price, top model
- DeepSeek
- $3.96 per million output tokens for deepseek-v4-pro at peak, $1.98 off-peak.
- Novita AI
- $6.00 per million output tokens for Qwen3.8 Max.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“1M OUTPUT TOKENS OFF-PEAK $0.66 $1.98 $0.66 PEAK $1.32 $3.96 $1.32”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“Qwen3.8 Max 977K $2 /Mt · Cache Read $0.25 /Mt $6 /Mt”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
Input price, cheapest model
- DeepSeek
- $0.44 per million input tokens for deepseek-v4-flash at peak on a cache miss, $0.22 off-peak, with output at $1.32 peak.
- Novita AI
- $0.075 per million input tokens for GLM 5.3 Flash at short context, rising to $0.15 above the threshold, with cache reads at $0.015 and output at $0.25. Fireworks serves the same model at $0.15.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“MODEL deepseek-v4-flash [...] 1M INPUT TOKENS (CACHE MISS) OFF-PEAK $0.22 [...] PEAK $0.44 [...] 1M OUTPUT TOKENS [...] PEAK $1.32”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“GLM 5.3 Flash 1M $0.075 /Mt · Cache Read $0.015 /Mt $0.15 /Mt · Cache Read $0.03 /Mt $0.25 /Mt $0.5 /Mt”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
Context window
1M tokens on every model in the current line.
1M tokens on the DeepSeek V4 line and GLM 5.3, published as "1M" rather than an exact figure — so it is recorded at 1,000,000 and may in practice be the 1,048,576 other providers state. Qwen3.8 is listed at 977K.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Models & Pricing — DeepSeek API Docs ↗
“CONTEXT LENGTH 1M”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Novita AI ↗
“DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 1M [...] GLM 5.3 1M [...] Qwen3.8 Max 977K”
Read 2026-09-07 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Which should you choose?
Choose DeepSeek if…
Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Novita AI if…
Breadth — 200+ models under one API with a cache-read rate published next to most of them, and an H100 SXM at $3.39 an hour if the same vendor should run the dedicated side too.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- DeepSeek: Capacity is expressed as concurrent requests rather than tokens per minute, which is a different thing to plan against, and the peak window lands on European working hours.
- Novita AI: It is rarely the cheapest for any given model: DeepInfra serves DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 at $0.06 against Novita's $0.44, and its H100 is $2.20 against Novita's $3.39 on demand.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Should I choose DeepSeek or Novita AI?
Pick DeepSeek if Batch-shaped work that can run outside weekday mornings UTC, where off-peak halves an already low rate and a cache hit costs about 3% of a cache miss.
Pick Novita AI if Breadth — 200+ models under one API with a cache-read rate published next to most of them, and an H100 SXM at $3.39 an hour if the same vendor should run the dedicated side too.