DeepSeek V4 is aggressively cheap at a million tokens. Cheap is not the only column.
Reviewed editorial Update
DeepSeek V4 is aggressively cheap at a million tokens. Cheap is not the only column.
DeepSeek's V4 generation offers a one-million-token context and 384K-token output at a fraction of frontier pricing (deepseek-flash at $0.30 in and $1.20 out per million at peak, half that off peak), with thinking on by default and tool calls.
What changed
DeepSeek's V4-generation API models are deepseek-flash, now served by the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 model, and deepseek-v4-pro (DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813). Both carry a one-million-token context window and up to 384K output tokens, support thinking (the default) and non-thinking modes, JSON output and tool calls; the original deepseek-v4-flash and deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp model names are retired and now route to deepseek-flash at its price. deepseek-flash is priced at US$0.30 per million input tokens (US$0.006 on cache hits) and US$1.20 per million output at peak rates, with off-peak billing at half those rates; deepseek-v4-pro is roughly three to four times that: US$1.32 input and US$3.96 output at peak.
Why it matters
Pricing this far below the frontier makes 'run it on everything' financially thinkable, which is exactly when the non-price columns matter: where your data goes, what the provider retains, and whether the quality holds on your task rather than on a benchmark.
Bit’s takeaway
The human take
A person reads the terms, decides which data may travel, and judges the model on accepted work rather than the price list.
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- DeepSeek's V4-generation API models are deepseek-flash, now served by the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 model, and deepseek-v4-pro (DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813), each with a one-million-token context window and up to 384K output tokens, thinking mode on by default with a non-thinking option, and tool calls. The original deepseek-v4-flash and deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp model names are retired; requests using either are still accepted but now route to deepseek-flash at its price. deepseek-flash is priced at US$0.30 per million input tokens on a cache miss (US$0.006 on a cache hit) and US$1.20 per million output at peak, half those rates off peak; deepseek-v4-pro is US$1.32 input (US$0.044 cache hit) and US$3.96 output at peak.Reviewed
Technical record
[deepseek-v4-fact; official_fact; product_fact; reviewed 2026-10-22; sources: DeepSeek API documentation and release notes (https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing); DeepSeek current pricing table (trailing slash) (https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing/)] DeepSeek's V4-generation API models are deepseek-flash, now served by the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 model, and deepseek-v4-pro (DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813), each with a one-million-token context window and up to 384K output tokens, thinking mode on by default with a non-thinking option, and tool calls. The original deepseek-v4-flash and deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp model names are retired; requests using either are still accepted but now route to deepseek-flash at its price. deepseek-flash is priced at US$0.30 per million input tokens on a cache miss (US$0.006 on a cache hit) and US$1.20 per million output at peak, half those rates off peak; deepseek-v4-pro is US$1.32 input (US$0.044 cache hit) and US$3.96 output at peak.
Sources and method