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DeepSeek vs Nebius
Nebius serves DeepSeek and 60+ other open models with EU or US placement. DeepSeek's own API is cheap but stores data in China. Residency is usually the deciding factor.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
DeepSeek vs Nebius: key differences
DeepSeek's weights are open, and Nebius's Token Factory is one of the hosts that serves them, alongside Llama, Qwen, GLM, Kimi and GPT-OSS. So the matchup is mostly about the wrapper. DeepSeek's first-party API is cheap, with V4.1 Flash at $0.30 in and $1.20 out at peak and half that off-peak, but hosted data is stored in China. Nebius, based in Amsterdam, offers dedicated endpoints with a 99.9% SLA and optional EU or US placement, prices starting at $0.06 per million input tokens, and serving of uploaded fine-tunes at the same token pricing.
For a European enterprise, or anyone who cannot send data to China, Nebius is the practical way to run DeepSeek-class models. It also sells raw GPUs, from H100s at $4.50 an hour on demand, or from $0.79 on spot,, so a team can move from tokens into training on one account. DeepSeek direct suits cost-first teams that accept its data terms and want the newest DeepSeek releases from the source. Watch the churn, though: DeepSeek retires and reprices models often. Nebius requires a $25 minimum first payment and has no free trial.
What DeepSeek and Nebius do
DeepSeek
DeepSeek is the Chinese lab whose open-weight models reset price expectations for the whole market. Its main model is V4.1 Flash, with 1M context and 384K max output, which shipped September 10, 2026 with built-in image understanding at $0.30 in and $1.20 out at peak. An updated checkpoint, V4.1-Flash-1017, replaced it on October 17 at the same price. DeepSeek had planned to route deepseek-v4-pro requests to V4.1 Flash from September 14 but reversed course, and still serves V4 Pro at $1.32 in and $3.96 out at peak until a V4.1 Pro launches. Cache hits cost a few cents per million or less, and the weights ship on Hugging Face under an MIT license.
Example models: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Full DeepSeek profileNebius
Nebius is an Amsterdam-headquartered AI cloud and the strongest European alternative to the US hyperscalers. It sells raw NVIDIA GPU compute, from H100s at $4.50 an hour on demand or from $0.79 on dynamic spot pricing, up to GB300 NVL72 racks, and it has begun adding Vera Rubin. On-demand GPU prices rose on October 1, 2026, and preemptible VMs moved to demand-set spot prices on October 8. Hyperscale buyers back it: a Microsoft capacity deal worth about $17.4B in September 2025, then a Meta agreement worth up to about $27B in March 2026.
Example models: DeepSeek V4 Pro, Kimi K3, MiniMax M3
Full Nebius profileShould you choose DeepSeek or Nebius?
DeepSeek
Choose DeepSeek for
- Cost-first teams comfortable with China data storage
- Off-peak batch at half price
- Getting new DeepSeek releases from the source
Nebius
Choose Nebius for
- Running DeepSeek-class models with EU placement
- Serving fine-tuned DeepSeek checkpoints with an SLA
- Growing from inference into GPU training
DeepSeek vs Nebius at a glance
| Attribute | DeepSeek | Nebius |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights (MIT) | Open weights, 60+ models |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | DeepSeek V4 Pro, Kimi K3, MiniMax M3, GLM |
| Speed | ~209 tok/s on V4.1 Flash | Among top hosts on throughput |
| Price | Off-peak hours at half price | From $0.06 per 1M input |
| Customization | Open weights to fine-tune | Serve uploaded fine-tunes |
| Deployment | First-party API, Hugging Face weights | Token Factory, dedicated, raw GPUs |
| Long context | 1M, 384K max output | Varies by model |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between DeepSeek and Nebius?
Nebius serves DeepSeek and 60+ other open models with EU or US placement. DeepSeek's own API is cheap but stores data in China. Residency is usually the deciding factor.
When should I choose DeepSeek over Nebius?
Cost-first teams comfortable with China data storage; Off-peak batch at half price; Getting new DeepSeek releases from the source.
When should I choose Nebius over DeepSeek?
Running DeepSeek-class models with EU placement; Serving fine-tuned DeepSeek checkpoints with an SLA; Growing from inference into GPU training.
Is DeepSeek or Nebius cheaper?
DeepSeek: Off-peak hours at half price. Nebius: From $0.06 per 1M input. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
Which has more context, DeepSeek or Nebius?
DeepSeek: 1M, 384K max output. Nebius: Varies by model.
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