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DeepSeek vs Novita AI
Novita serves DeepSeek V4 Pro with its full 1M context alongside 200+ other models, from a US company. DeepSeek's own API offers off-peak halving and cheap cache hits from China.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
DeepSeek vs Novita AI: key differences
Novita AI is one of many hosts that serve DeepSeek's open weights, and it keeps DeepSeek V4 Pro's full 1M context. It is a San Francisco company with 200+ models across text, image, video, speech and embeddings, LLM prices from $0.02 per million tokens, batch at 50% off, and APIs in both OpenAI and Anthropic formats. DeepSeek's first-party API offers only its own two models, but with cache hits at a few cents per million or less and an off-peak rate that is exactly half of peak.
The choice depends on what else you need and where data can go. DeepSeek stores hosted data in China, and it reprices often. Novita avoids the China question but has no public SOC 2, HIPAA or VPC peering, looser serverless SLAs and Discord-based support, so it does not solve enterprise compliance either. Novita adds dedicated endpoints with hot-swappable LoRA adapters, GPU instances and an agent sandbox. Cost-first indie builders can use Novita for breadth and DeepSeek direct for the cheapest DeepSeek tokens in off-peak windows.
What DeepSeek and Novita AI do
DeepSeek
DeepSeek is the Chinese lab whose open-weight models reset price expectations for the whole market. Its API now serves two models, both with 1M context and 384K max output. V4.1 Flash shipped September 10, 2026 with built-in image understanding at $0.30 in and $1.20 out at peak. V4 Pro, generally available since August 13, costs $1.32 in and $3.96 out at peak. 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, DeepSeek V4 Pro
Full DeepSeek profileNovita AI
Novita AI is a San Francisco inference cloud founded in late 2023 by Frank Lewis and Junyu Huang, and it competes on price and breadth. Its serverless API covers 200+ open models across LLMs, image, video, speech, voice cloning and embeddings, with LLM prices starting at $0.02 per million tokens. The API speaks both OpenAI and Anthropic formats. It became an official Hugging Face Inference Partner in April 2026 and was the day-zero launch partner for Google's Gemma 4.
Example models: DeepSeek V4 Pro, Gemma 4
Full Novita AI profileShould you choose DeepSeek or Novita AI?
DeepSeek
Choose DeepSeek for
- Cheapest DeepSeek tokens during off-peak hours
- Agents that reread long cached prefixes
- Teams that only need DeepSeek models
Novita AI
Choose Novita AI for
- DeepSeek plus 200+ other models on one bill
- Serving DeepSeek fine-tunes with LoRA adapters
- US-based hosting for indie and prototype products
DeepSeek vs Novita AI at a glance
| Attribute | DeepSeek | Novita AI |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights (MIT) | Open weights |
| Flagship models | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, V4 Pro | DeepSeek V4 Pro, Gemma 4 |
| Speed | ~35 tok/s on V4 Pro | ~36 tok/s on DeepSeek V4 Pro |
| Price | Off-peak hours at half price | From $0.02 per 1M; batch 50% off |
| Customization | Open weights to fine-tune | Hot-swappable LoRA adapters |
| Deployment | First-party API, Hugging Face weights | Serverless, GPU cloud, dedicated |
| Long context | 1M, 384K max output | Full 1M on DeepSeek V4 Pro |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between DeepSeek and Novita AI?
Novita serves DeepSeek V4 Pro with its full 1M context alongside 200+ other models, from a US company. DeepSeek's own API offers off-peak halving and cheap cache hits from China.
When should I choose DeepSeek over Novita AI?
Cheapest DeepSeek tokens during off-peak hours; Agents that reread long cached prefixes; Teams that only need DeepSeek models.
When should I choose Novita AI over DeepSeek?
DeepSeek plus 200+ other models on one bill; Serving DeepSeek fine-tunes with LoRA adapters; US-based hosting for indie and prototype products.
Is DeepSeek or Novita AI cheaper?
DeepSeek: Off-peak hours at half price. Novita AI: From $0.02 per 1M; batch 50% off. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
Which has more context, DeepSeek or Novita AI?
DeepSeek: 1M, 384K max output. Novita AI: Full 1M on DeepSeek V4 Pro.
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