DeepSeek’s website promotes free access for chat, and the Google Play listing describes the mobile app as free to use. The API is separate: the pricing source lists per million token rates of $0.028 for input cache hits, $0.28 for input cache misses, and $0.42 for output tokens.
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DeepSeek’s website promotes free access for chat, and the Google Play listing describes the mobile app as free to use.
The API is separate: the pricing source lists per million token rates of $0.028 for input cache hits, $0.28 for input cache misses, and $0.42 for output tokens.
Third party API free tier claims vary sharply, from 5 million tokens for new accounts to 500 million tokens per month, so verify inside your API account before relying on them.
DeepSeek có miễn phí khôngDeepSeek có thể dùng miễn phí trên web/app, nhưng API cần được tính theo mức sử dụng token.
AI Prompt
Create a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: DeepSeek có miễn phí không? Web/app miễn phí, API tính theo token. Article summary: Có, DeepSeek có quyền truy cập miễn phí cho web chat/app, nhưng API là phần cần tách riêng: bảng giá API được liệt kê theo 1 triệu token, nên nhà phát triển không nên mặc định coi API là miễn phí.. Topic tags: deepseek, ai, chatbots, api, llm. Reference image context from search candidates: Reference image 1: visual subject "**Chọn địa chỉ nhận hàng**. Vui lòng chọn Tỉnh/Thành bên dưới Chọn Phường/Xã. Chọn địa chỉ Nhập địa chỉ theo Tỉnh/TP, Phường/Xã. ## DeepSeek là công cụ AI đang tạo nên làn sóng mạ" source context "DeepSeek là gì? Cách sử dụng DeepSeek chi tiết nhất" Reference image 2: visual subject "**Chọn địa chỉ nhận hàng**. Vui lòng chọn Tỉnh/Thành bên dưới Chọn Phường/Xã. Chọn địa chỉ Nhập địa chỉ theo Tỉnh/TP, Phường/Xã. ##
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Yes, DeepSeek can be free — but only if you’re talking about the right way of using it. The web chat and mobile app are presented as free-access experiences, while the API is a separate route for developers and is priced by token.
The short answer
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What is the short answer to "Is DeepSeek free? Web/app access vs. API pricing"?
DeepSeek’s website promotes free access for chat, and the Google Play listing describes the mobile app as free to use.
What are the key points to validate first?
DeepSeek’s website promotes free access for chat, and the Google Play listing describes the mobile app as free to use. The API is separate: the pricing source lists per million token rates of $0.028 for input cache hits, $0.28 for input cache misses, and $0.42 for output tokens.
What should I do next in practice?
Third party API free tier claims vary sharply, from 5 million tokens for new accounts to 500 million tokens per month, so verify inside your API account before relying on them.
DeepSeek’s homepage links to “Start Now” with “Free access to DeepSeek.”
Free access does not prove unlimited usage or permanent terms.
Mobile app
Someone using DeepSeek on a phone
The Google Play listing describes DeepSeek’s official AI assistant as free to use.
Heavy or work-related users should still check current in-app limits.
API
Developers connecting DeepSeek to software or workflows
DeepSeek’s homepage separates “Access API” from the chat route, and the API pricing source lists token-based rates.
Do not treat the API as automatically free just because the chat app is free.
Web and app access: free to start
DeepSeek’s homepage points users to a chat experience with the line “Free access to DeepSeek.” Its Google Play listing also describes DeepSeek as the official AI assistant that can be used for free.
That supports a simple conclusion for everyday use: if you want to chat with DeepSeek directly in a browser or mobile app, you can start with the free access described in those listings.
What the supplied sources do not establish is that every feature, model, usage level, or policy is unlimited. For casual use, that may not matter. For work, high-volume research, or anything mission-critical, check the live app or account terms before building a routine around it.
The API is different: it is priced by token
The API is the product you use when you want software — not just a person in a chat window — to call DeepSeek. That might mean connecting it to an app, internal tool, customer support bot, website feature, or automated workflow.
DeepSeek’s homepage makes the split visible: “Start Now” leads to the chat experience, while “Access API” is a separate entry point for building with the models. The API pricing source also says the app/web experience may be presented separately from API billing.
For API use, the listed public rates are per 1 million tokens: $0.028 for input cache hits, $0.28 for input cache misses, and $0.42 for output tokens.
In plain English, a token is a unit of text processed by the model. Your API cost depends on the amount of input text, the amount of output text, and whether input is charged at the cache-hit or cache-miss rate.
Don’t budget by “number of questions” alone
For API planning, the practical unit is not a chat message. A short question with a short answer uses far fewer tokens than a long document analysis or an automated workflow that sends large prompts repeatedly.
Because the pricing source bills by tokens used, the budget question is: how many input and output tokens will your integration process?
Be careful with API “free tier” claims
Some third-party pages describe API free tiers, but their numbers do not line up. Price Per Token says new accounts get 5 million free tokens, while MyDeepSeekAPI says DeepSeek V3 and R1 include 500 million tokens per month.
Those are very different claims. Before you count on free API usage in a production plan, verify the current allowance in the place you sign up or in your API dashboard. A safer approach is to treat any free API allowance as trial credit and budget ongoing use against the published token rates.
Which one should you choose?
Use the web chat or mobile app if you simply want to ask questions, draft text, brainstorm, code with assistance, or try DeepSeek directly. The clearest free-access evidence in the provided sources is for this route.
Use the API if you want DeepSeek inside your own product, website, bot, data pipeline, or business workflow. That route should be planned as a token-billed service.
Re-check any free API allowance before launch, especially if your budget depends on it, because third-party free-tier claims currently differ substantially.
Bottom line
DeepSeek is reasonably described as free to access on web and app, based on the homepage and Google Play listing. But that does not make the API free by default. For integrations, the pricing source lists rates per 1 million tokens for input cache hits, input cache misses, and output tokens.
Rule of thumb: chat with DeepSeek directly and you can start free; build with the DeepSeek API and you need to budget by token.
