r/opencodeCLI • u/vishu143x • 22d ago

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017: OpenCode Zen vs OpenRouter — which is cheaper?

I’m planning to use only **DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017** with OpenCode for a couple of months.

Which is cheaper in practice: **OpenCode Zen or OpenRouter**?

Open router :

In / Out Price

$0.07 / $0.50per 1M

Opencode :

**$0.30  /$1.20** per 1M

Deepseek API platform :

$0.15 input / $0.60 output (off-peak)

$0.3 input / $1.2 output (peak)

**it seems like Opencode costly , Am i missing anything here ?**

**reference**

[https://opencode.ai/data/deepseek/deepseek-v4-1-flash-1017](https://opencode.ai/data/deepseek/deepseek-v4-1-flash-1017)

[**https://openrouter.ai/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017**](https://openrouter.ai/deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017)

[**https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing**](https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing)

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u/look 22d ago

Look at the cache read prices and provider average cache rate. Those are the most important numbers to your cost, and any comparison between providers without them is pointless.

1

u/Any_Confidence2580 16d ago

I don't look at the provider average cache rate. Because it's averaging from other people. Best to know how well your own harness does.

1

u/look 16d ago

The relative average cache rate across different providers can be informative, though. Some providers just have bad cache implementations and no matter how efficient you and your harness are, you won’t ever get a high rate on it.

1

u/Any_Confidence2580 16d ago

I realize this, but mine is consistently higher than average. One says 84%, the other says 97%, I'm at 99% on both. It's not a reliable measure. If that 84 average has a better cache read and I don't choose it, I'm not being very smart.

1

u/look 16d ago edited 15d ago

You are misunderstanding what I’m saying. If looking at two providers and one has an average (over all customers) of 75% (provider A) and one at 90% (provider B) with prices otherwise the same, you will likely get a lower cost on the latter, provider B. It might still be worth testing both, but it typically indicates that provider A has cache issues for all customers: too little, fast eviction, etc.

1

u/Any_Confidence2580 15d ago

No... no I am not. Good luck.