DeepSeek
Free AI chat assistant from China's DeepSeek, with web search, file uploads, a 1M-token context and a pay-per-token API.
Founded 2023
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DeepSeek is the AI chat assistant from Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., a Chinese AI company founded in 2023. It answers questions and writes code, reads uploaded files and photos, and can search the web or think a problem through before it answers, on the web at chat.deepseek.com and in apps for iOS and Android.
The chat is free: the app stores list no in-app purchases, and DeepSeek lists no paid chat plans for individuals or teams. Since April 2026 a 1-million-token context window is the default across DeepSeek's official services. Developers pay for the API separately, from a prepaid balance: the deepseek-flash model costs $0.30 per million uncached input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens at peak times, and half that off-peak. DeepSeek publishes the weights of models such as DeepSeek-V4-Pro and V4.1-Flash under the MIT license. Chats and files are processed and stored in China.
Best for
People who want a free assistant for questions, writing and code, and developers who want a pay-per-token API or open model weights. Less suited to anyone who needs image generation, a team plan or data kept outside China.
Pros
- Free web chat and iOS and Android apps, with no in-app purchases listed in either app store
- 1-million-token context window by default across DeepSeek's official services since April 2026
- Web search and a thinking mode (DeepThink) in the chat
- Per-token API pricing: deepseek-flash costs $0.30 per million uncached input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens at peak, half that off-peak
- Open model weights under the MIT license, for example DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on Hugging Face
Cons
- Chats, uploaded files and account data are processed and stored in the People's Republic of China
- No team, business or enterprise plan listed: the API is self-service, with one price list and no tiered plans
- US law (FY2026 NDAA, Sec. 1532) bars Defense Department contractors from using DeepSeek AI to perform DoD contracts, unless waived case by case
- API peak rates are double the off-peak rates (weekdays 01:00-04:00 and 06:00-10:00 UTC)
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly (12-month total) |
|---|---|---|
| FreeWeb chat and iOS/Android apps; no paid chat plans listed; the API is billed separately per token from a prepaid balance | Free Free plan | |
Prices checked on .
Features
In AI chat assistants
| Feature | DeepSeek |
|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes · Web chat and apps are free; no paid chat plans listed |
| File upload | Yes · Files and photos; size and file-count limits apply but are not published |
| Web search | Yes · Search option in the web chat and apps |
| Image generation | No · Not listed; DeepSeek describes replies as text, tables and code; photos can be uploaded for analysis (vision mode) |
| Voice mode | not listed |
| Memory/projects | No · No memory or projects listed; chats can be renamed, pinned, shared and exported; Kaspersky (Oct 2025): past chats are not used in new ones |
| API access | Add-on · DeepSeek API, billed per token from a topped-up (prepaid) balance |
| Mobile apps | Yes · iOS and Android |
| Team plan | No · None listed; the API is self-service with one price list and no tiered plans |
| Training opt-out | Yes · Opt-out right in the privacy policy; Kaspersky (Oct 2025) describes an 'Improve the model for everyone' switch in Settings |