AllocateDeepSeek V4 vs Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct
On provider list prices, DeepSeek V4 costs $1.74 per million input tokens against $3.50 for Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct: 2.0x apart. Output is $3.48 against $3.50. On Allocate both bill at list plus the 7% transaction fee.
DeepSeek V4
Meta Llama 3.1 405B InstructSpecifications and provider list prices from the Allocate catalog, checked 2026-07-08. Billed price is list plus the 7% transaction fee.
What the numbers say
Take 1,000,000 requests a month at 1,200 input and 350 output tokens each. That workload costs $3,306 a month on DeepSeek V4 and $5,425 on Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct at list: a gap of $2,119, or 1.6x.
DeepSeek V4 reads 512K tokens per request against 4K for Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct, 125.0x the window. That decides which one can take whole documents without splitting them.
Choose DeepSeek V4 for
- Reasoning-heavy agents
- Long-document analysis
- Cost-sensitive production routes
Choose Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct for
- Open weights you can fine-tune and own
Common questions
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?
DeepSeek V4, on this workload shape. At list prices it is $1.74/$3.48 per million tokens in and out against $3.50/$3.50 for Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct. Billed on Allocate: $1.86/$3.72 against $3.75/$3.75, list plus 7%.
Which has the bigger context window?
DeepSeek V4: 512,000 tokens (512K) against 4,096 (4K) for Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct.
Can I fine-tune DeepSeek V4 or Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct?
Meta Llama 3.1 405B Instruct publishes open weights (Llama community) and can be fine-tuned on your own data. DeepSeek V4 is a closed model served over API; its weights are not available.
Related comparisons
Run the numbers on your workload
Or don’t choose. On Allocate a route name is the contract: point yours at one model today, swap to the other tomorrow, and compare them on your live traffic with per-token metering.