# DeepSeek API vs SWE-2 Flash (slim)

> DeepSeek scores 45.8 (E) to SWE-2 Flash's 36.4 (F) for llm inference. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-swe-2-flash.md (~5,800 tokens) · this version ~2,830 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-swe-2-flash.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepseek-api-vs-swe-2-flash
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-11-04
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

DeepSeek API scores 45.8 (E) on agent readiness against SWE-2 Flash's 36.4 (F), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. SWE-2 Flash leads on security & auth and maintenance & community. Both do llm inference.

- DeepSeek API: E 45.8, rank #1089 of 1350 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/deepseek-api.min.md
- SWE-2 Flash: F 36.4, rank #1243 of 1350 · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/swe-2-flash.min.md
- DeepSeek API, good for Low-cost long-context work on public data, and off-peak batch-style jobs run through the normal API. Ahead on Reliability, 60 against 50; Schema & documentation, 49 against 29; Agent ergonomics, 70 against 10. Also A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install.
- SWE-2 Flash, good for People already using Devin Desktop or Devin CLI who want a cheaper, faster model for routine coding work such as automations, reviews and small changes, while it is free in November 2026. Ahead on Security & auth, 53 against 30; Maintenance & community, 53 against 46.

| Category | DeepSeek API | SWE-2 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability (16%) | 60 | 50 |
| Performance (10%) | pending | pending |
| Schema & documentation (13%) | 49 | 29 |
| Agent ergonomics (13%) | 70 | 10 |
| Security & auth (14%) | 30 | 53 |
| Payments & pricing (10%) | 20 | 20 |
| Task success (10%) | pending | pending |
| Maintenance & community (7%) | 46 | 53 |
| Transparency & trust (7%) | 65 | 64 |

| Fact (where they differ) | DeepSeek API | SWE-2 Flash |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | DeepSeek | Cognition AI, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.deepseek.com` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP |  |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Pay per use | Freemium |
| Licence | none | Proprietary model, used through Devin Desktop and Devin CLI under Cognition's Platform Terms of Service. The weights are not public; Cognition says it is building a programme to share them with industry partners and researchers |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-17 | 2026-11-04 |
| Terms last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-06-30 |
| Privacy policy last updated | couldn't be read | 2026-03-09 |
| Customer content may train models | couldn't be read | yes, with an opt-out |
| Terms restrict automated access | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | couldn't be read | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | couldn't be read | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | couldn't be read | yes |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | none |

Why the edge:
- Agent ergonomics, DeepSeek API +60: DeepSeek API 70 (Model reading of the checklist (tool use, structured output, caching, context, batch, SDKs, errors). Tool calls through both request formats, and the API reference documents `tool_choice` as none, auto, required or a named function (20 of 20). Strict schema-enforced tool calls in beta, JSON output without a schema guarantee (10 of 15). Disk cache on by default with cheaper hits, per the listing (15). 1M-token context and up to 384K output (15). No batch API documented (0). No official SDKs, you use the OpenAI or Anthropic client (0). Seven error codes with a fix for each, 402 for an empty balance (10 of 15).); SWE-2 Flash 10 (Model reading (tool use, structured output, caching, context, batch, SDKs). Tool use is Devin's harness, not something a caller configures; no context length, output limit or cache price is published for SWE-2 Flash (5 of 25). No documented output-size or reasoning controls for this model; SWE-2's effort levels aren't stated for Flash (0 of 20). No model-level error documentation (0 of 20). No idempotency or retry guidance (0 of 20). One flag or picker selects it and `devin -p` runs a single turn and prints to stdout, but there is no SDK or direct endpoint (5 of 15). 5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 5 = 10.)
- Security & auth, SWE-2 Flash +23: DeepSeek API 30 (Model reading. One Bearer key per balance, no scoping found (20 of 30). The privacy policy, last updated 10 February 2026, says personal data is used to train models, with an opt-out by email to privacy@deepseek.com (0 of 20). Data kept for as long as needed to provide the services, with no period stated and no zero-retention route (5 of 15). Per-call logs or audit logs not found (5 of 15). No security.txt, and no certification or bug bounty found (0 of 20).); SWE-2 Flash 53 (Read as a hosted model reached through Devin's local clients. The CLI signs in through a browser, or the enterprise identity provider, and stores an API token in credentials.toml that by default is persistent and does not expire and carries the user's access, with no scopes found for it (10 of 30). Devin CLI documents an OS-level sandbox with network filtering, hooks that can block tool calls, and enterprise model allowlists and team settings (14 of 20). Guardrails against prompt injection are Enterprise only and cover user messages, as on the devin listing (8 of 15). Enterprise analytics count tool calls and consumption by model and user; no per-user audit log for the CLI was found (8 of 15). SOC 2 Type II and ISO/IEC 27001:2022, a disclosure address, no bug bounty and no security.txt, per the devin listing (13 of 20). Training: self-serve customer data may train Cognition's models by default, with an opt-out on paid plans that also turns on zero data retention at model providers. Cognition withheld the weights over cyber misuse, which is recorded as a fact, not scored. 10 + 14 + 8 + 8 + 13 = 53.)
- Schema & documentation, DeepSeek API +20: DeepSeek API 49 (No OpenAPI document and no llms.txt found (0 and 0). API reference covers both the OpenAI and Anthropic formats. The chat completion reference, read on 2 October, describes each parameter with its range and default, such as `max_tokens` from 1 to 393,216 with 8K by default without thinking, but says little on when not to use one (14 of 20). Strict tool calls are documented, in beta at the `/beta` base URL, with a JSON Schema subset (object, string, number, integer, boolean, array, enum, anyOf, `$ref`) where every property must be required. JSON output mode carries no schema guarantee (10 of 15). The error codes page lists seven codes, each with a cause and a fix, but no example bodies (10 of 15). Dated updates page that names model changes (15).); SWE-2 Flash 29 (Model reading. No model API, so no OpenAPI entry; the Devin v3 OpenAPI file lists SWE-2 agents only, and no model card was found (0). docs.devin.ai serves llms.txt and Markdown copies of every page (10). The launch post says what it is for (automations, code review, feature development, documentation) and the CLI docs say when to pick a SWE model, but the models pages don't list SWE-2 Flash yet (6 of 20). No documented model ID, reasoning settings, context or output limits to type (0 of 15). The CLI pages show `--model` and `/model` examples, with no model-specific errors (3 of 15). Named, dated model versions on Cognition's blog and public release notes, but no release note for SWE-2 Flash yet; the newest is 2 November (10 of 15). 0 + 10 + 6 + 0 + 3 + 10 = 29.)
- Reliability, DeepSeek API +10: DeepSeek API 60 (Status page at status.deepseek.com, run on Flashduty, with per-API components and a readable feed (20). The feed lists 36 incidents from 22 July to 15 October. Four touch only web search, 27 are degraded performance, and five are partial unavailability, one of them (12 October) the web chat only. Of the four that hit the API, 28 July lasted 7 minutes and 2 September 31 minutes. 14 September (18:30 to 21:30 UTC) left the V4.1 Flash API and chat partly unavailable for three hours, and 15 October (00:11 to 05:04 UTC) left the V4 Pro and V4.1 Flash APIs and chat partly unavailable for 4 hours 52 minutes. Two majors in 90 days sit between one (10) and several (0), so 5 (5). Concurrency caps published per account, 2,500 on Flash and 500 on V4 Pro, and requests that haven't started inference after 10 minutes are closed (15). The rate-limit and error pages document 429, and advise a brief wait and retry on 500 and 503, with no `Retry-After` header or backoff schedule (10 of 15). No SLA found (0). V4 Pro and V4.1 Flash are GA (10).); SWE-2 Flash 50 (Model reading, for the surface it runs on, Devin Desktop and Devin CLI. Status page at www.devinstatus.com (Atlassian Statuspage) with Desktop Agent and Desktop Tab components besides the cloud ones, read on 4 November 2026 (20). The history feed for the 90 days from 6 August lists 'Devin unavailable' for 20 minutes on 13 August with no component named, read as across the board and a major as on the devin listing; Devin Cloud unavailable on 13 August and the web app down on 24 September name cloud surfaces this model doesn't use; the rest are degraded-performance incidents (new sessions on 3 September, 'multiple services' on 17 September, Ask Devin on 26 October, automation triggers on 4 November) and session queuing on 10 and 11 August, read as minor and a scheduled Devin Desktop extension marketplace upgrade on 7 August, read as maintenance. One major (10). No rate limit figures for the model or the CLI; usage is a daily and weekly quota with no numbers (0). No 429, backoff or retry guidance for this surface (0). Cognition publishes an SLA (25 February 2026) with uptime and response times that applies when included in an order form, read as a contractual SLA on Enterprise, as on other listings (10). The launch post makes it available today with no preview or beta label (10). 20 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 10 + 10 = 50.)
- Maintenance & community, SWE-2 Flash +7: DeepSeek API 46 (Model reading. V4.1 Flash was upgraded to DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on 17 October under the same `deepseek-flash` name and price, posted on the updates page the same day (30). No stated notice policy. `deepseek-chat` and `deepseek-reasoner` got three months, announced on 24 April for 24 July (4 of 12). Two shutdown dates in the last 90 days, 24 July and the V4 Flash retirement on 10 September, less 4 because the V4 Pro shutdown set for 14 September was announced on 13 August and withdrawn on 10 September (0 of 8). Dated updates page, and the docs list api-service@deepseek.com and a Discord server for support. We didn't test whether either answers (12 of 15). No official SDK repository to sample (0 of 10). No official SDKs (0 of 15, 0 of 10).); SWE-2 Flash 53 (Model reading. Released 4 November 2026 (30). Churn and notice in place of release counts: SWE-1.6, SWE-1.7, SWE-1.7 Lightning, SWE-2 (10 September) and now SWE-2 Flash in a few months, with no model deprecation notice period found and short names that move to the newest model (10 of 20). Public release notes and a support address, no public tracker (10 of 25). No official SDK for the model (0 of 15). The docs are kept current but don't yet cover this model (3 of 10). 30 + 10 + 10 + 0 + 3 = 53.)