DeepSeek R1 pricing for api generation

Quick start

Call DeepSeek R1 with the OpenAI Python SDK pointed at api.deepseek.com:

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://api.deepseek.com/v1",
    api_key=os.environ["DEEPSEEK_API_KEY"],
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-r1",
    max_tokens=6000,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your prompt here"}]
)
# Cost: ~$0.0148 per call at standard rates
# Input:  $0.55/MTok
# Output: $2.19/MTok

How DeepSeek R1 compares on cost

Per-call cost for all models scoring 50+ on api generation benchmarks. Hover for details.

Highest-quality affordable option: Claude Haiku 4.5 at $0.0330/call (2.2x the cost, 72/100 quality). DeepSeek R1 is already the cheapest choice for api generation.

What drives api generation cost

Endpoint generation is the most output-heavy code task tracked here: 3K in for the spec, 6K out for handlers, types, validation, and error paths. Output pricing is therefore the whole ballgame, and the gap between a flagship and a mid-tier model at 6K output tokens compounds fast across a large API surface. Generating one resource at a time costs less than one giant multi-resource prompt.

For DeepSeek R1 specifically, that means output tokens cost 4.0x more than input, at $2.19 vs $0.55 per MTok. At this use case’s 3,000/6,000 token split, output accounts for 89% of the $0.0148 per-call cost.

DeepSeek R1 quality benchmarks for api generation

Benchmark data for api generation is pending for DeepSeek R1. Test against your own evaluation suite before moving to production.

Benchmark data is not yet available for DeepSeek R1. We recommend testing against your own evaluation criteria.

About DeepSeek R1

Prices are off-peak rates from api-docs.deepseek.com (read 2026-10-11). Peak-hour prices are 2x the listed input and output rates — Tokeven does not model time-of-day tiers; off-peak is used as the base. Cache hit: $0.14/MTok input. No batch discount published. Reasoning model: output includes chain-of-thought tokens. Not yet benchmarked, so never recommended.

Other models from DeepSeek

You can compare DeepSeek R1 head-to-head against any other model on our model comparison pages, or track how pricing has changed over time on the pricing history tracker.

Frequently asked questions