DeepSeek: pricing, features and alternatives
Free AI chat app and pay-per-token API from Chinese AI company DeepSeek
What is DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is an AI chat assistant from a Hangzhou-based company of the same name. Its web and mobile apps are free and offer web search, a Deep-Think mode and file uploads. Developers can use DeepSeek models through an API billed per million tokens, with lower rates outside peak hours.
Good for
- Everyday questions and drafting at no cost
- Summarising uploaded documents
- Developers running high-volume text tasks through the API
Key features
- Free chat on web, iOS and Android
- Web search and Deep-Think mode
- File upload and text extraction
- Chat history synced across devices
- Latest model DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash with image understanding
- API with 1M-token context, tool calls and JSON output
Limitations to know about
- API prices are higher at peak times (01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC on weekdays)
- The deepseek-v4-pro API model does not accept images
- No team or business subscription is listed on the pricing page
DeepSeek pricing
DeepSeek is free to use. Its plans are Chat app (web, iOS, Android), API: deepseek-flash (DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash) and API: deepseek-v4-pro (DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813).
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Chat app (web, iOS, Android) | $0 | Free with no ads or in-app purchases, per DeepSeek's app launch note |
| API: deepseek-flash (DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash) | $0.15 off-peak / $0.30 peak per 1M input tokens (cache miss); $0.60 / $1.20 per 1M output tokens | Cache hits from $0.003 per 1M tokens; 1M context; vision supported |
| API: deepseek-v4-pro (DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813) | $0.66 off-peak / $1.32 peak per 1M input tokens (cache miss); $1.98 / $3.96 per 1M output tokens | 1M context; no vision |
DeepSeek alternatives
ChatGPT
OpenAI's AI chat assistant for writing, research, images, voice and coding
Claude
Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, research and coding
Google Gemini
Google's AI assistant app, with paid Google AI plans for higher limits
Mistral Vibe
Mistral AI's assistant for chat, work tasks and coding, now called Vibe
Grok
AI assistant from xAI, now part of SpaceX, with real-time web and X search
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's free consumer AI assistant, with more use in Microsoft 365 plans
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek free?
Yes. DeepSeek is free to use.
How much does DeepSeek cost?
DeepSeek does not publish a starting price we could verify, so check its own pricing page for current rates.
What is DeepSeek used for?
DeepSeek is an AI chat assistant from a Hangzhou-based company of the same name. People use it for everyday questions and drafting at no cost, summarising uploaded documents and developers running high-volume text tasks through the API.
What are the alternatives to DeepSeek?
Tools that do a similar job include ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, Mistral Vibe and Grok. Each has its own page here with its plans, limits and prices.
Who makes DeepSeek?
DeepSeek is made by DeepSeek, based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. The company was founded in 2023.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from the pages below, read on the dates shown: DeepSeek's own pages first, and a named public reference where they are silent.
- deepseek.com/en (products and latest model version) read 23 September 2026
- api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing (API models, prices, peak hours) read 23 September 2026
- api-docs.deepseek.com/news/news250115 (app is free, platforms, app features) read 23 September 2026
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeepSeek (company founded and headquarters) read 23 September 2026
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