Choose DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 if…
- you generate long outputs in one go — up to 33K tokens (about 24,600 words) per response
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 vs LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B
Neither wins outright: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 is the pick when you generate long outputs in one go, LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B when you want to prototype at zero cost.
Key numbers
| Spec | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | Liquid |
| Input price (per 1M tokens) | $0.25 | $0.35 |
| Output price (per 1M tokens) | $0.95 | $0.50 |
| Blended price (3:1 input/output) | $0.42 | $0.39 |
| Cheaper than … of all models we track | 56% | 58% |
| Context window | 164K tokens (~246 pages) | 128K tokens (~192 pages) |
| Larger context than … of all models | 35% | 14% |
| Max output per response | 33K tokens (~24,600 words) | 8K tokens (~6,100 words) |
| Input types | text | text |
| Output types | text | text |
| Free variant | No | Yes |
| Listed since | 2025-08-21 | 2026-08-11 |
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What it costs for real workloads
Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.
| Workload (per month) | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer-support chatbot 50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens) | $37.75 | $36.25 | LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B saves $1.50 |
| RAG search over documents 20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens) | $39.50 | $47.00 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 saves $7.50 |
| Coding / tool-using agent 2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens) | $41.40 | $48.00 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 saves $6.60 |
| Batch summarisation 10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens) | $25.70 | $31.00 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 saves $5.30 |
| Long-document analysis 500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens) | $13.45 | $18.00 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 saves $4.55 |
Capabilities side by side
| Capability | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B | What it lets you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tool / function calling | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | call your APIs and run agent loops |
| Structured output (JSON schema) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | return JSON that validates against your schema |
| Reasoning / thinking mode | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | spend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems |
| Image input | — | — | read screenshots, charts and scanned pages |
| Audio input | — | — | take speech or audio directly |
| File / PDF input | — | — | accept documents without your own parsing step |
| Image output | — | — | generate images, not just text |
| Built-in web search | — | — | answer from live web results |
| Seed (reproducible sampling) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | repeat a generation for tests and evals |
| Log-probabilities | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | read token confidence for classification and scoring |
From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.
Price history
- DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: input price cut 55% ($0.55 → $0.25/1M), output price cut 42% ($1.65 → $0.95/1M) on 2026-09-08 (5 price changes since 2026-03-10).
- LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B: price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-10-25.
| Date | Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-08 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.25 | $0.95 |
| 2026-09-04 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.55 | $1.65 |
| 2026-09-02 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.25 | $0.95 |
| 2026-08-22 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.55 | $1.65 |
| 2026-08-06 | DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 | $0.25 | $0.95 |
Which should you choose?
Choose LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B if…
- you want to prototype at zero cost — a free variant is listed
- you want the newer model — released 2026-08-11, 12 months after the other
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 better than LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B?
Neither wins outright: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 is the pick when you generate long outputs in one go, LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B when you want to prototype at zero cost. In short: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 when you generate long outputs in one go; LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B when you want to prototype at zero cost, you want the newer model.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B?
LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B is cheaper: $0.39 vs $0.42 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 9% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $36.25 against $37.75.
How much do DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B cost per million tokens?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $0.95 per 1M output tokens; LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B costs $0.35 input and $0.50 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.
Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: 164K tokens, about 246 pages, against 128K (about 192 pages) for LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B.
Do DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B support function calling and JSON output?
Tool calling — DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: yes, LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B: yes. JSON-schema structured output — DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: yes, LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B: yes.
Can DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B read images?
Neither accepts image input — both are text-in models.
Is DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B free to use?
LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B has a free variant (liquid/lfm-2.5-2.6b:free). Free variants usually carry tighter rate limits.
What is the maximum output length of DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 can write up to 33K tokens (about 24,600 words) per response; LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B up to 8K (about 6,100 words).
When were DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 and LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B released?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 was listed on 2025-08-21; LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B on 2026-08-11.
Has the price of DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 or LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B changed?
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1: input price cut 55% ($0.55 → $0.25/1M), output price cut 42% ($1.65 → $0.95/1M) on 2026-09-08 (5 price changes since 2026-03-10). LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B: price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-10-25.
About the two models
DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1
DeepSeek-V3.1 is a large hybrid reasoning model (671B parameters, 37B active) that supports both thinking and non-thinking modes via prompt templates. It extends the DeepSeek-V3 base with a two-phase long-context...
Full DeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.1 specs →LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B
LFM2.5-2.6B is a compact reasoning model from Liquid AI. It is suited for agent workflows, data extraction, RAG, and long-context processing. Liquid advises against using it for agentic coding or...
Full LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B specs →