Gemini 4 Carbon leads DeepSeek V4 Pro by 37 points on one AI index, while costing 4.4 times as much per task on that evaluator’s measure. OrcaRouter’s comparison makes a useful case for choosing by workload, not by leaderboard position: the cheaper model may suit routine text jobs, while Carbon’s multimodal input could matter for work involving images, audio or PDFs.
DeepSeek Watch analysis
What happened
OrcaRouter compares Gemini 4 Carbon with DeepSeek V4 Pro using Artificial Analysis’s Intelligence Index. It gives Carbon a score of 60 and V4 Pro a score of 23, and reports cost per index task of $7.76 and $1.77 respectively. Those are figures reported in the comparison, not a universal price for every workload.
The models differ in ways that affect what they can do. According to the article, Carbon accepts text, images, audio, video and PDFs; V4 Pro is text-only. V4 Pro has open weights under the MIT licence, while Carbon is closed. Both have a reported one-million-token context window.
The price comparison also has a clock attached. Carbon’s listed API price is $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens until 30 November, then doubles. DeepSeek’s listed V4 Pro rates vary by time: the article gives off-peak rates of $0.66 input and $1.98 output per million tokens, and higher peak rates. Read OrcaRouter’s comparison.
Why it matters
A higher score is not automatically worth paying for on every request. OrcaRouter argues that V4 Pro may suit high-volume text tasks, while Carbon’s image, audio, video and PDF input could justify its price for teams whose work depends on those formats. Open weights also give V4 Pro a self-hosting option that Carbon does not offer.
The comparison’s cost-per-task figures come from an evaluator’s index, so they are a guide rather than a bill forecast. Real costs depend on the work, token use and, for DeepSeek, when requests run.
Our read
This is a practical argument for routing work by difficulty and input type, rather than making one model carry every task. If you are comparing the two, price a representative workload and check whether you need multimodal input or open weights. The leaderboard may get the meeting; the invoice gets the last word.
What to watch
- Whether Carbon’s price changes as stated after 30 November.
- How the models compare on independent tests using the same tasks and conditions.
- Whether DeepSeek publishes further details or changes to V4 Pro’s rates.
Discussion spark: Would you pay more for a higher-scoring model across all your AI work, or route routine text tasks to the cheaper option and reserve the expensive model for harder jobs?
Sources and evidence
- Gemini 4 Carbon vs DeepSeek V4 Pro: What 37 Index Points and 4.4x the Cost Per Task Actually Buy – OrcaRouter (10 November 2026, 17:34 UTC)
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