DeepSeek API

DeepSeek API / model access

Very cheap per-token API with 1M-context models (OpenAI-compatible). Popular as the economical engine inside Cline or aider.

Capabilities

Read local project	Not supported API layer — plug it into a coding tool.
Edit files	Not supported Not applicable by itself.
Run commands	Not supported Not applicable by itself.
Image input	Unconfirmed Not verified at review time — check the model docs.
Long autonomous tasks	Not supported Not applicable by itself.

Working experience

Code quality Good

Works on its own Untested

Speed Good

Stability Good

Editorial assessment based on official documentation and publicly known behavior — not a field-test score. Sources and check date on this page.

🧪 ResetDog field notes

No completed field test for this tool yet. The capability descriptions on this page come from official documentation.

🎯 Good for

—

🧭 How you use it

API / bring-your-own-key · In the browser
Works on: web

💰 Cost & quota

Pay-as-you-go · No free access

Context window: 1M context (up to 384K output)
Input token price: Input $0.15–$1.32 / 1M tokens (model & cache dependent)
Output token price: Output $0.60–$3.96 / 1M tokens (peak/off-peak)

🆓 Free / trial access

No free API tier at review time; the consumer chat app has a free mode, but API usage is prepaid.

🤝 Invite benefits

Current status: No public program found
What the referrer gets: No public API referral reward confirmed
What the new user gets: No public API invite-only credit confirmed
Who qualifies: The free DeepSeek app/web product is separate from paid API usage
Source: Official source ↗

🏷️ Pricing notes

Per 1M tokens (peak / off-peak is half): deepseek-flash — input $0.30/$0.15 (cache miss), $0.006/$0.003 (cache hit), output $1.20/$0.60; deepseek-v4-pro — input $1.32/$0.66 (cache miss), output $3.96/$1.98. Off-peak: 01:00–04:00 & 06:00–10:00 UTC Mon–Fri.

See pricing page ↗

🚀 Setup

Register at platform.deepseek.com, top up, create an API key; the endpoint is OpenAI-compatible so it works in Cline/aider/other BYOK tools.

⚠️ Main limitations

Prepaid only — no free API tier found.
Image input support was not verified at review time.

🔒 Privacy & data

Review DeepSeek’s privacy policy before sending proprietary code.

📚 Sources

https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing

🧾 What is official vs ours

Facts like pricing, plans, and capability limits come from the official pages linked below, checked on the date shown. Summaries and task-fit notes are written by ResetDog. Anything marked “conditional” or “unknown” was not fully confirmed — treat it as unverified.