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There's a free plan; paid tiers are quoted.
DeepSeek Chat is free, and the API has no monthly subscription. API use is prepaid and billed per token: deepseek-flash input starts at $0.15 per 1 million tokens off-peak, while deepseek-v4-pro starts at $0.66. Weekday peak windows double off-peak rates. The pricing details we reviewed list 5 million free tokens on signup. API context reaches 1 million tokens, but there’s no fixed monthly API price to budget around.
01Every plan, line by line
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek Chat (Web/Mobile) | — | $0 | casual users wanting a free chatbot |
| DeepSeek API (Pay-as-you-go) | — | Quote | developers building on DeepSeek models |
Add-ons and overages
- Search API: $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests
- Fetch API: $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests
- Cache-hit input token rates far lower than cache-miss rates on both models
- Peak-hour pricing (01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC weekdays) doubles off-peak token rates
02What the plan grid doesn't tell you
Peak-hour rates
Weekdays 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC, token rates double from off-peak pricing.
Output tokens
Output costs more than input: off-peak, deepseek-flash is $0.60 per 1M output tokens; deepseek-v4-pro is $1.98.
Cache misses
Cache-hit input rates are much lower than cache-miss rates, but exact cache rates are not published on the vendor's site.
Search and Fetch APIs
Each add-on costs $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests.
03Which plan should you buy?
| If you are… | Get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Casual chatbot users | DeepSeek Chat (Web/Mobile) | It costs $0 per month. The pricing details list no usage caps or seat limits. |
| Developers testing API calls | DeepSeek API (Pay-as-you-go) | It has no monthly subscription; signup includes 5 million free tokens, according to the pricing details. |
| Apps with variable API use | DeepSeek API (Pay-as-you-go) | You pay per token rather than a monthly subscription, but peak-hour rates and output usage can raise the bill. |
04Is DeepSeek worth the money?
DeepSeek remains a reasonable value if you track the rate card instead of treating the API as simply cheap. Chat costs nothing, and API pricing is metered without a monthly subscription. But peak hours double rates, output tokens cost more than input, and cache misses can cost more than cache hits. The published pricing details don’t provide a like-for-like category comparison, so we’d budget from your expected model, token mix and usage times—not a headline input rate.
DeepSeek pricing FAQ
How much does DeepSeek cost?
DeepSeek Chat (Web/Mobile) is free. DeepSeek API (Pay-as-you-go) has no monthly subscription and is billed per token. Off-peak input starts at $0.15 per 1 million tokens for deepseek-flash and $0.66 for deepseek-v4-pro; peak weekday rates double.
Why is the DeepSeek API so expensive?
There’s no fixed monthly API fee in the pricing details; the bill depends on token use. Output tokens cost more than input, and weekday peak-hour rates double off-peak rates. Cache-hit input rates are lower than cache-miss rates, though exact cache rates are not published.
How much does the Google Search API cost?
The published pricing details don’t state Google’s Search API price, so we can’t give a verified figure. They list DeepSeek’s Search API at $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests. That is a DeepSeek add-on price, not a Google price.
How much does the GPT API cost?
GPT API pricing isn’t included in the published material, so we can’t make a verified price comparison. For reference, DeepSeek’s off-peak input rates start at $0.15 per 1 million tokens on deepseek-flash and $0.66 on deepseek-v4-pro; output and peak rates are higher.