---
title: DeepSeek
slug: deepseek
url: "https://toolweight.com/options/deepseek"
homepage: "https://www.deepseek.com"
categories: llm-apis
last_verified: 2026-01-15
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# DeepSeek

> Frontier-adjacent models at a small fraction of Western prices

DeepSeek reset the category's price floor and has kept cutting since. The V3 line is released under MIT, so the same model you call over the API can be run on your own hardware or through a Western host. The first-party API is the cheapest serious option on this page; its governance terms are also the most permissive, which is the reason to route around it for sensitive workloads.

## Identity

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Name | DeepSeek |
| Company | DeepSeek |
| One-liner | Frontier-adjacent models at a small fraction of Western prices |
| Site | https://www.deepseek.com |
| Docs | https://api-docs.deepseek.com |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Open source | Yes |
| Licence | MIT |
| Brand | https://toolweight.com/vendors/DeepSeek |
| Compared in | 1 |

## Where it is compared

### [LLM APIs](https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis)
Ranked **#18 of 18** on default weights.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Flagship model | DeepSeek-V3.2 (deepseek-chat / deepseek-reasoner) | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing | The API exposes rolling aliases; the model behind deepseek-chat changes without a version bump. |
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| Max output | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| Image input | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| Audio in/out | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| Open weights | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://github.com/deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V3 | V3 line released under MIT, among the most permissive licences of any frontier-adjacent model. |
| OpenAI-compat API | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| TTFT p50 | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| Output tok/s | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| $/M input | $0.28 /M tok | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing | Cache-miss rate following the September 2025 price cut. |
| $/M output | $0.42 /M tok | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing | Roughly a hundred and twentieth of Claude Fable 5's $50/M, about a thirty-fifth of Claude Sonnet 5's $15/M, and about a twenty-fourth of the GPT-5-family $10/M. Which of those ratios is the honest one depends on which model you would otherwise have used, for the bulk work this rate is good for, the volume-tier comparison is the fair one. |
| $/M cache read | $0.028 /M tok | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | Cache hits are billed at a tenth of the miss rate, applied automatically. |
| Batch discount | 0 % | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | No batch endpoint; the list price is already below most competitors' batch rates. |
| Tool use | ◐ | Community-reported | 2026-01-15 | - | Function calling works, but multi-step agentic reliability is widely reported as weaker than the closed frontier. |
| Schema output | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | JSON mode rather than full schema-constrained decoding. |
| Effort control | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | A separate reasoner model rather than a per-request effort level. |
| Computer use | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| MCP support | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| Cache TTL | Automatic disk cache, no configuration | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| Continuity policy | The worst on this page for a closed endpoint, and the best if you self-host. The API offers only rolling aliases, deepseek-chat silently points at whatever the current model is, so behaviour can change with no version to pin and no deprecation notice. The mitigation is the MIT licence: download the checkpoint and the version is yours permanently. | Community-reported | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| Notice period | - | Unknown | - | - | No published deprecation policy; aliases are updated in place. |
| Pinnable versions | ○ | Community-reported | 2026-01-15 | - | Only rolling aliases are exposed on the first-party API. |
| Zero retention | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| Trains on your data | ● | Community-reported | 2026-01-15 | - | Terms permit using inputs to improve services. Assume prompts are retained and read them before sending anything sensitive. |
| AU region | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - |
| API since | 2023 | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Positioning | Near-frontier quality at a fraction of the token price | Inferred | - | - | - |

**Verdict.** The price floor of the category and the reason everyone else's rates fell. For bulk text work the quality-per-dollar is unmatched. Do not send regulated data to the first-party endpoint, permissive retention terms and rolling aliases with no pinning make it unsuitable for anything sensitive or long-lived. Use the MIT weights through a Western host instead.

## Alternatives

- [Qwen](https://toolweight.com/options/alibaba-qwen), Alibaba's model family, huge open-weight range, closed flagship
- [Amazon Bedrock](https://toolweight.com/options/amazon-bedrock), Multi-vendor model access inside your existing AWS account
- [Anthropic](https://toolweight.com/options/anthropic), Claude models, built around long agentic runs and tool use
- [Cerebras](https://toolweight.com/options/cerebras), Wafer-scale inference, the fastest tokens per second available
- [Cohere](https://toolweight.com/options/cohere), Enterprise-focused models built for RAG and private deployment
- [Fireworks AI](https://toolweight.com/options/fireworks-ai), Fast open-weight inference with strong structured-output support
- [Google Gemini](https://toolweight.com/options/google-gemini), Gemini via AI Studio for prototyping or Vertex AI for production
- [Groq](https://toolweight.com/options/groq), Custom LPU silicon serving open-weight models at extreme speed
- [Meta Llama](https://toolweight.com/options/meta-llama), Open-weight Llama models, hosted almost everywhere but Meta
- [Mistral AI](https://toolweight.com/options/mistral-ai), European lab with an open-weight lineage and EU-resident hosting
- [Moonshot AI](https://toolweight.com/options/moonshot-ai), Kimi models, open-weight agentic performance at low cost
- [OpenAI](https://toolweight.com/options/openai), GPT models plus audio, images and embeddings on one bill

## Licence and attribution

Data from toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

- Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/options/deepseek
- Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/options/deepseek.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp
- toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements. Corrections: https://toolweight.com/suggest