I really, really like DSv4 Flash because you see the full, real thinking text. That’s been so useful for helping steer the model; as well as seeing its thoughts and correcting any errors, or expanding on it. It’s so difficult for me to use closed models with no or summarised thinking now — it feels so painful and gimped.

You don’t know what you’re missing until you’ve seen it. For me it’s almost like going from standard def to HD for the first time.

(This applies to other open models too — Kimi K3 in real world feels below Opus 5 in terms of raw intelligence, but significantly above Opus 5 in usability and personality. And no silly refusals — the model feels like it’s working for me; not working for Anthropic who’s always holding a leash over the model while I pay for it).

I prefer V4 flash, but Luna is ok and included in the OpenAI plan I'm already paying, so... that is the reason I use it.

I gave DeepSeek $50 around june, and I haven't been able to exhaust them yet. The model is super cheap and more than enough for my needs.

I'm my opinion, Flash V4 is less pedantic than OpenAI models, less prone to unsolicited prescriptions and less prone to "helpfully" reinterpreting my instructions (wrongly, of course).