Claude Haiku 5.5 Max vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max leads the intelligence index 36.5 to 32.6. Compare price, speed, latency and a clear verdict.

Metric	Claude Haiku 5.5 (Max)	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)
Intelligence Index	36.5	32.6
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$0.10	$0.30
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$0.50	$1.20
Output speed (tokens/s)	233	162
Time to first token	4.6 min	1.2s
Release date	2026-10-07	2026-10-17

Metric

Claude Haiku 5.5 (Max)

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max)

Intelligence Index

36.5

32.6

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$0.10

$0.30

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$0.50

$1.20

Output speed (tokens/s)

233

162

Time to first token

4.6 min

1.2s

Release date

2026-10-07

2026-10-17

This comparison puts Anthropic's Claude Haiku 5.5 (Max) next to DeepSeek's DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max). Time to first token is the standout number here: 1.2 seconds for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max, 4.6 minutes for Claude Haiku 5.5 Max. No hands-on testing went into this write-up; it summarises the recorded benchmark, price and speed data for both models.

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max is the faster writer

Measured output speed is 233 tokens per second for Claude Haiku 5.5 Max and 162 tokens per second for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max. Claude Haiku 5.5 Max is ahead by 44% on throughput. The wait for the first token averages 4.6 minutes on Claude Haiku 5.5 Max against 1.2 seconds on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max. Claude Haiku 5.5 Max writes faster once it starts, but DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max's head start is large enough that DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max still finishes first at any typical reply length; Claude Haiku 5.5 Max only catches up beyond about 150,000 tokens. Waits that long are felt on every chat-style request, though they matter less for batch jobs.

Add the two numbers up for a 2,000-token reply and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max finishes first: 4.8 minutes for Claude Haiku 5.5 Max, 14 seconds for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max.

Release timing

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max came first, on October 7, 2026; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max followed on October 17, 2026. That is close enough to count them as the same generation.

Running costs

The list prices are $0.10 in and $0.50 out for Claude Haiku 5.5 Max, and $0.30 in and $1.20 out for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max, per million tokens. That makes Claude Haiku 5.5 Max's output 58% cheaper.

A reference job of 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens costs $0.20 with Claude Haiku 5.5 Max and $0.54 with DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max, so Claude Haiku 5.5 Max saves $0.34. Scale it up to a support assistant answering 10,000 conversations of 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each and the bill is $4.50 for Claude Haiku 5.5 Max against $12.00 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max.

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max leads on the intelligence index

On the intelligence index, Claude Haiku 5.5 Max scores 36.5 against 32.6 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max. It is a meaningful gap rather than a rounding difference. In relative terms, Claude Haiku 5.5 Max scores 12% higher.

Across the 109 active models with an intelligence score in the catalogue, Claude Haiku 5.5 Max ranks 37th and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max ranks 45th.

There are no coding or math index scores for either model in the catalogue, which keeps this comparison at the aggregate level.

Value for money

Per point of intelligence index, Claude Haiku 5.5 Max costs $0.0055 of blended price per million tokens and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max $0.016. Claude Haiku 5.5 Max scores higher and costs less per point, so on price per point there is nothing to trade off.

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max better than Claude Haiku 5.5 Max?

It depends on what you need: Claude Haiku 5.5 Max scores higher on the intelligence index, 36.5 to 32.6; Claude Haiku 5.5 Max is 62% cheaper on blended price; Claude Haiku 5.5 Max streams output 1.4 times as fast; and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max reaches its first token sooner.

Which is cheaper, Claude Haiku 5.5 Max or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max?

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max is cheaper on a blended basis. Claude Haiku 5.5 Max lists $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max lists $0.30 and $1.20. For 1 million input and 200,000 output tokens that is $0.20 against $0.54.

Was this comparison tested by hand?

The figures are the recorded benchmark, price and speed data in Franklin AI's model catalogue. This page is written from that data automatically; neither model was tested by hand for it.

Which model has lower latency?

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max generates output faster, at 233 tokens per second against 162 tokens per second. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max reaches its first token sooner (1.2 seconds against 4.6 minutes). Counting the first-token wait, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max finishes first for any reply shorter than about 150,000 tokens.

Who makes Claude Haiku 5.5 Max and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max?

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max is made by Anthropic and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max by DeepSeek. Claude Haiku 5.5 Max was released on October 7, 2026 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max on October 17, 2026.

Final whistle

Bottom line: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max has more going for it here, but Claude Haiku 5.5 Max is not without an argument. Pick DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max if users are waiting on the first word and replies need to finish sooner at typical lengths. Pick Claude Haiku 5.5 Max if cost matters ($0.50 against $1.20 per million output tokens) and you need the higher overall score (36.5 against 32.6).

Where the numbers come from

The scores, speed and prices in this comparison come from independent third-party model evaluations that Franklin AI syncs each day, and the article was written from a snapshot of them. For the latest results, open the Claude Haiku 5.5 (Max) and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 (Max) pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.

Claude Haiku 5.5 Max vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 Max compared

Pick it for Claude Haiku 5.5 · Max

Pick it for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1017 · Max

By the numbers