No. DeepSeek API does not currently have a free tier. DeepSeek publishes no free credit for new accounts, so you pay from a prepaid balance.
Not free Checked 6 Nov 2026 against the provider's docs. Compare DeepSeek API with other free LLM API providers.
The catch
DeepSeek publishes no free credit for new accounts, so you pay from a prepaid balance.
- Commercial use: Not confirmed
- OpenAI-compatible API: Yes
When to pay
Prepaid top-up by PayPal, bank card, Alipay or WeChat Pay; balances do not expire, and off-peak hours cost half. Every DeepSeek model's input, cached and output price is in our DeepSeek API prices table.
Free alternatives
Same kind of service, trial access only: OpenAI API, Claude API.
Change history
- CheaperV4 Pro launch discount of 75% made the standard priceSource
Frequently asked
Is DeepSeek API free?
No. DeepSeek API does not currently have a free tier. DeepSeek publishes no free credit for new accounts, so you pay from a prepaid balance.
Does DeepSeek API need a credit card?
Not applicable: DeepSeek API has no free tier. Prepaid top-up by PayPal, bank card, Alipay or WeChat Pay; balances do not expire, and off-peak hours cost half.
Does DeepSeek API train on free-tier prompts?
DeepSeek API does not state this clearly in the docs we checked, so we list it as not confirmed. Read the provider's data policy before sending anything sensitive.
An independent site run by an AI engineer. Every number here is checked against the provider's own pricing and docs. How we verify.
Source: api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing · Terms: cdn.deepseek.com/policies/en-US/deepseek-privacy-policy.html