AI Chatbots
DeepSeek's free chat app on web, iOS and Android, plus a pay-as-you-go API that costs half as much outside peak hours.
Free plan: Free on web, iOS and Android.
Paid: API billed separately.
Last verified October 31, 2026 on api-docs.deepseek.comUSD as listed
DeepSeek
From $0.15/1M tokens · Free plan
Plans and prices ↓Source: api-docs.deepseek.com · USD as listed
| Plan | Monthly | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free plans | ||
| Free chat | Free | Free on web, iOS and Android |
| API plans | ||
| API, Flash model | Usage-based | — |
| API, Pro model | Usage-based | — |
Free plans
Free on web, iOS and Android
API plans
DeepSeek API balance · Direct API · Primary · From $0.15/1M tokens
The API has no tiers or subscription: you top up a balance (PayPal, bank card, Alipay or WeChat Pay in the English FAQ) and each request is deducted at the Flash or Pro token price, half price outside peak hours. Granted balance is spent before topped-up balance, top-ups do not expire, and unused topped-up balance can be refunded on request, minus handling fees.
Free web and app chat · App subscription · From $0/mo
Chat at chat.deepseek.com or in the iOS and Android apps is free, with no paid consumer plan on DeepSeek's pages. The App Store listing shows no in-app purchases.
Search and Fetch APIs · Direct API · Usage-based API
Web search and page fetch are billed per request on the same balance: $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests each, since 00:00 Beijing time on November 1, 2026 (16:00 UTC on October 31). That includes the searches DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code and Codex make through the DeepSeek API; failed, empty and timed-out requests are not billed.
Guides
Buyer guide
DeepSeek sells 3 plans: 1 free, 2 API.
Includes: DeepSeek's web chat and its iOS and Android apps are free. DeepSeek publishes no message cap, and its download page and app listings show no paid chat plan. DeepSeek's change log says the web and app moved to DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on October 17, 2026.
Includes: Pay-as-you-go per 1M tokens for deepseek-flash (DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017). Peak hours (01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday): $0.006 input on a cache hit, $0.30 input on a cache miss, $1.20 output. Off-peak, half the peak rate: $0.003, $0.15 and $0.60. 1M-token context, 384K maximum output, images accepted, 2,500 concurrent requests per account.
Includes: Pay-as-you-go per 1M tokens for deepseek-v4-pro (DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813). Peak hours: $0.044 input on a cache hit, $1.32 input on a cache miss, $3.96 output. Off-peak, half the peak rate: $0.022, $0.66 and $1.98. 1M-token context, 384K maximum output, no image input, 500 concurrent requests per account.
AI Chatbots
| Product | Free tier | Cheapest paid plan | Top plan | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Free | $8 | $500 | Prices checked |
| Claude | Free | $20 | $200 | Prices checked |
| Gemini | Free | $4.99 | $199.99 | Prices checked |
| Grok | Free | $8 | $200 | Prices checked |
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI lab that offers its models two ways: a free chatbot at chat.deepseek.com and in iOS and Android apps, with DeepThink and Search buttons and image and file uploads, and a developer API. The API serves two models, deepseek-flash and deepseek-v4-pro, in OpenAI, Anthropic and Responses formats, so agents such as Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode can run on it. DeepSeek also publishes the model weights under the MIT license.
It suits people who want a strong chatbot without a subscription, and developers whose token bill matters more than any one benchmark. The catches are that DeepSeek publishes no message cap for the free app, and that API prices depend on the hour: seven weekday hours, 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, cost twice the rate of the rest of the week.
There is nothing to subscribe to. The app is free, and the API runs on a prepaid balance that does not expire and can be refunded on request, minus fees, with granted credit spent first. Flash costs under a quarter of Pro's price per uncached input token and about a seventh per cached one. Web search and page fetch called through the API have been billed per request since November 1, 2026.
FAQ
The chat app is. DeepSeek's web chat and its iOS and Android apps are free, DeepSeek's download page and app listings show no paid chat plan, and the App Store listing shows no in-app purchases. The API is separate and paid: you top up a balance and pay per token.
Per 1M tokens at peak, deepseek-flash costs $0.30 input on a cache miss, $0.006 on a cache hit and $1.20 output; deepseek-v4-pro costs $1.32, $0.044 and $3.96. Off-peak rates are half of those. There are no tiers or monthly plans.
Peak hours are 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, Monday through Friday, excluding Chinese public holidays. Every other hour is off-peak, including weekends and Chinese public holidays in full, and costs half the peak rate.
Yes, since 00:00 Beijing time on November 1, 2026 (16:00 UTC on October 31). Search and Fetch each cost $0.75 per 1,000 successful requests, including searches DeepSeek Harness, Claude Code and Codex run through the DeepSeek API. Failed, empty and timed-out requests are free.
Yes. DeepSeek's Anthropic-format endpoint at api.deepseek.com/anthropic works with Claude Code and bills your DeepSeek balance. Requests for any claude-opus model run on deepseek-v4-pro at Pro prices, while claude-sonnet and claude-haiku names run on deepseek-flash; DeepSeek's setup guide points every slot at deepseek-flash.
DeepSeek retired both names on July 24, 2026. The current names are deepseek-flash and deepseek-v4-pro. For now the older deepseek-v4-flash name still works, but it is served and billed as deepseek-flash.
DeepSeek From $0.15/1M tokens · Free plan
Last verified October 31, 2026
Editorial guidance grounded in official product sources.
Prices come from api-docs.deepseek.com's official pricing page; the date at the top of this page is the latest check. Plan details and limits are reviewed against official pages every month. Picks are ToolColumn's judgment.
Edited byRick Finch
Updated October 31, 2026
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