A student getting maths help
- Open chat.deepseek.com
- Paste the problem
- Ask for step-by-step reasoning
free plan works
DeepSeek · Chatbot app
DeepSeek
DeepSeek's chat app and low-cost API, running its V4.1 Flash model.
- Provider
- DeepSeek
- Latest confirmed model
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 (Oct 17, 2026)
- Pricing
- Free plan + paid
- Free plan
- Yes
- API
- Yes
- Status
- Generally available
- Last verified
- Oct 19, 2026
What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek offers a web and mobile chat app plus a pay-as-you-go API. On 17 October 2026 DeepSeek updated its website, app and API to DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017. The company's site lists no paid consumer subscription; its paid product is the API, which charges lower rates outside peak hours.
Gives people and developers access to a capable model at low per-token cost.
Why use DeepSeek?
Practical benefits
- No consumer subscription listed on DeepSeek's site
- Very low API prices with off-peak discounts
- 1M-token context on API models
Who it suits
- Cost-sensitive developers
- Users who want a no-subscription chatbot
When another tool may fit better
- Organisations needing enterprise admin plans
- Users with data-residency constraints who must review where data is processed
- Learning curve
- Beginner-friendly
- Skills needed
- None for chat; programming for API
Example workflows
- Ask the chat app to explain and refactor code
- Run bulk API jobs during off-peak hours to halve cost
What can it do?
- Web and mobile chatchat.deepseek.com and mobile app; updated to V4.1-Flash-1017.
- Off-peak API pricingOff-peak rates are half of peak rates.
- Context cachingCache-hit input billed far lower than cache-miss input.
- Search / Fetch APIAnnounced on DeepSeek's API docs.
Good for
- Coding help
- General Q&A
- Low-cost batch text processing
Where it runs
Pricing and plans
Free plan + paid DeepSeek's site lists no paid consumer subscription for the chat app. The API is pay-as-you-go per 1M tokens, with off-peak rates at half the peak rates.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Free trial / tier | Usage limits | Main inclusions | Model access | API access | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat app | Free | per month | Free tier | Not published |
|
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 | Separate, pay-as-you-go | — |
| API (pay-as-you-go) | Per 1M tokens; off-peak half price | usage-based | — | — |
|
deepseek-flash (V4.1-Flash-1017), deepseek-v4-pro (V4-Pro-0813) | Yes | Peak hours 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC weekdays |
Worked example (usage-based API pricing): sending 1,000,000 input tokens and receiving 200,000 output tokens at the listed deepseek-flash rates ($0.30 and $1.20 per 1M) costs about $0.54 before tax. Real bills depend on the model, caching, batch discounts and any tier you qualify for.
API and developer access
- Official API
- Yes
- Documentation
- API docs (opens in a new tab)
- Authentication
- API key (Bearer)
- Pricing model
- per 1M tokens
- Free API quota
- None documented — the free plan above (if any) is for the app, not the API
- Rate limits
- Not documented
- Context / input limits
- 1M tokens; max output 384K
- SDKs
- Not documented
- Streaming
- Not documented
- Batch processing
- Not documented
- Structured output
- Not documented
- Tool / function calling
- Not documented
- Commercial use
- See the provider terms
- Data retention & privacy
- See the provider privacy terms
Published API rates
| Item | Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| deepseek-flash input, cache miss (peak; off-peak $0.15) | $0.30 | per 1M input tokens |
| deepseek-flash output (peak; off-peak $0.60) | $1.20 | per 1M output tokens |
| deepseek-v4-pro input, cache miss (peak; off-peak $0.66) | $1.32 | per 1M input tokens |
| deepseek-v4-pro output (peak; off-peak $1.98) | $3.96 | per 1M output tokens |
A free DeepSeek account is not the same thing as free API access. Unless a free API quota is listed above, API calls are billed separately.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
- Low API cost
- Large context window
- Chat app has no listed paid tier
Disadvantages
- No published consumer usage limits
- Peak-hour pricing doubles API rates
- Licence terms for latest weights not verified here
Privacy: Review DeepSeek's privacy policy for where data is stored and processed before uploading sensitive material.
Real-world examples
A startup classifying support tickets
- Create an API key on the DeepSeek platform
- Send tickets to deepseek-flash
- Schedule runs off-peak
needs API key
A developer reusing a long system prompt
- Keep the same prompt prefix across calls
- Benefit from cache-hit pricing
- Monitor costs in the console
needs API key
DeepSeek alternatives
Qwen Chat
Alibaba's free Qwen assistant on web and mobile, with Qwen models also sold per token through Alibaba Cloud Model Studio.
DeepSeek vs Qwen ChatChatGPT
OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, writing, coding, research and file work, built on OpenAI's GPT models.
DeepSeek vs ChatGPTLe Chat
Mistral AI's assistant with web search, coding sessions via Vibe and 100+ connectors.
DeepSeek vs Le ChatMeta AI
Meta's assistant across WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, the Meta AI app and AI glasses, powered by Muse models.
DeepSeek vs Meta AIFrequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek free?
DeepSeek's site lists no paid plan for the chat app. The API is charged per token.
Which model does the DeepSeek app use?
DeepSeek says its website and app were updated to DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on 17 October 2026.
How cheap is the DeepSeek API?
deepseek-flash costs $0.30 input (cache miss) and $1.20 output per 1M tokens at peak, and half that off-peak.
What are DeepSeek's peak hours?
01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday, excluding Chinese public holidays.
How long a document can the API read?
Current API models list a 1M-token context and up to 384K output tokens.