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Free Trial CreditsCustomDeepSeek V4-Flash (Pay-as-you-go)CustomDeepSeek V4-Pro (Pay-as-you-go)Custom
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All DeepSeek API Plans & Pricing

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Free Trial Credits

  • 5 million free tokens on signup
  • No credit card required
  • Access to all models including deepseek-v4-flash
  • Credits apply automatically to usage

DeepSeek V4-Flash (Pay-as-you-go)

  • $0.14/M input tokens (cache miss)
  • $0.0028/M input tokens (cache hit)
  • $0.28/M output tokens
  • Non-thinking and thinking modes available
  • 1M context length, 384K max output
  • Replaces legacy deepseek-chat endpoint

DeepSeek V4-Pro (Pay-as-you-go)

  • $0.435/M input tokens (cache miss)
  • $0.003625/M input tokens (cache hit)
  • $0.87/M output tokens
  • Full context caching for large cache-hit discounts
  • Higher capability flagship model
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Quick Answer
Last verified:
Estimate

DeepSeek API costs Free to $0.87 per month as of July 2026, with 3 plans available including a free tier. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.

Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.

  • Free tier: Yes

DeepSeek API offers 3 pricing tiers: Free Trial Credits, DeepSeek V4-Flash (Pay-as-you-go), DeepSeek V4-Pro (Pay-as-you-go). The DeepSeek V4-Flash (Pay-as-you-go) plan is most code generation tasks at the lowest per-token cost.

Compared to other code generation apis software, DeepSeek API is positioned at the budget-friendly price point.

  • 3 documented hidden costs beyond list price
Last verified: | Sources: 1 pricing pages and reviews

How much does DeepSeek API cost?

DeepSeek API offers 3 pricing plans, starting with a free tier and scaling to custom enterprise pricing. Plans include Free Trial Credits (free), DeepSeek V4-Flash (Pay-as-you-go) (custom pricing), DeepSeek V4-Pro (Pay-as-you-go) (custom pricing).

DeepSeek API Pricing Overview

DeepSeek API has 3 pricing plans, including a free tier. Paid plans range from $0 to $0.87/month. The Free Trial Credits plan is free and is best for new users evaluating the api before topping up a balance. The DeepSeek V4-Flash (Pay-as-you-go) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for most code generation tasks at the lowest per-token cost. The DeepSeek V4-Pro (Pay-as-you-go) plan requires contacting sales for a custom quote and is designed for complex reasoning and flagship-level coding performance.

DeepSeek API with a No minimum spend for individual developers. minimum commitment.

There are at least 3 documented hidden costs beyond DeepSeek API's list price, including implementation, training, and add-on fees.

This pricing was last verified in May 30, 2026 from 1 independent source.

Start DeepSeek API Free Trial

DeepSeek API provides access to DeepSeek's code-optimized and reasoning models via a pay-per-token REST API compatible with the OpenAI SDK. The current flagship models are DeepSeek V4-Flash (fast, low-cost) and DeepSeek V4-Pro (higher capability), replacing the legacy deepseek-chat and deepseek-coder endpoints. Pricing is among the most competitive in the code generation API space, with V4-Flash input tokens starting at $0.14 per million. Context caching delivers up to 10x discounts on repeated prompt segments. New accounts receive 5 million free trial tokens with no credit card required.

How DeepSeek API Pricing Compares

Compare DeepSeek API pricing against top alternatives in Code Generation APIs.

Codestral API $0.2-$0.9/per million tokens Compare → Refact.ai $0-$10/per user per month Compare → Tabby $0-$19/per user per month Compare →

Compare DeepSeek API vs Alternatives

Before committing to DeepSeek API, compare pricing with these 3 alternatives in the same category.

VSCodestral API
From $0.2/per million tokens

Teams embedding code-gen into editors, CI tools, or internal platforms

Full comparison
VSRefact.ai
Free

Individual devs trying the cloud product or self-hosting

Full comparison
VSTabby
Free

Hobbyists and small teams self-hosting

Full comparison

All DeepSeek API alternatives & migration guides

What Companies Actually Pay for DeepSeek API

Review scores
Third-party review aggregates, as of Jun 2026
Top pricing complaints
Model Limitations and QualityReliability and SpeedCensorship and Security ConcernsUser Experience

How DeepSeek API Pricing Compares

Software Starting Price Top Price
DeepSeek API Free $0.87/month
Codestral API $0.2/per million tokens $0.9/per million tokens
Refact.ai Free $10/per user per month
Tabby Free $19/per user per month
Augment Code API $100/month $100/month
Codeium API Free $200/month

Detailed pricing comparisons:

Browse all Code Generation APIs pricing →

3 DeepSeek API Hidden Costs Beyond the List Price

Beyond the listed price, DeepSeek API has at least 3 documented hidden costs that can significantly increase total cost of ownership.

Watch for 3 hidden costs
  • Thinking Mode Billing
    medium 1 source
    industry "These reasoning tokens are billed at the output rate, which can increase the total cost even if the visible output is short"
  • Data Exposure to Chinese Regimes
    critical 1 source
    industry "Data Residency and Security: For enterprises, using the hosted DeepSeek V4 API means accepting data exposure to Chinese legal and regulatory regimes, which can be a "hard blocker" for workloads involving personally identifiable information (PII), ..."
  • Content Restrictions
    high 1 source
    industry "Content Restrictions: DeepSeek V4 has documented limitations on topics related to Chinese politics and government, which could lead to incomplete or evasive outputs for applications involving global news analysis or geopolitical research"
Tip

Ask your DeepSeek API sales rep about these costs upfront. Getting them in writing before signing can save you from surprise charges later.

Full hidden costs breakdown →

Intelligence sourced from 1 independent sources
industry
Key claims include inline source attribution. Data verified against multiple independent sources. 4 source citations total.

DeepSeek API Contract Terms

DeepSeek API contracts do not auto-renew. Changes require advance notice. These terms are sourced from verified buyer experiences.

Contract Terms
Minimum Commitment No minimum spend for individual developers.

How to Negotiate DeepSeek API Pricing

DeepSeek API contracts are negotiable. These 1 tactics are sourced from real buyer experiences and procurement specialists.

Negotiation Playbook 1 tactics
Negotiate Enterprise Pricing high success

Pricing for enterprise needs is 'negotiable and tailored to business requirements'.

https://chat-deep.ai
High success Medium Low / difficult

Full negotiation guide →

DeepSeek API Pricing FAQ

01 How much does DeepSeek API cost?

DeepSeek's API uses pay-per-token pricing. DeepSeek V4-Flash costs $0.14 per million input tokens and $0.28 per million output tokens (cache-miss rates). DeepSeek V4-Pro costs $0.435/M input and $0.87/M output tokens.

02 Does DeepSeek offer a free tier for the API?

Yes. New users receive 5 million free tokens upon registration with no credit card required. These credits apply automatically across all models including V4-Flash and V4-Pro. After credits are exhausted, usage is billed at standard pay-per-token rates.

03 What happened to the deepseek-coder model endpoint?

The legacy deepseek-chat and deepseek-coder endpoint names now route to DeepSeek V4-Flash (non-thinking mode). DeepSeek plans to retire these legacy endpoint names on July 24, 2026. Developers should migrate to the deepseek-v4-flash or deepseek-v4-pro model identifiers directly.

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