DeepSeek Flash pricing for categorization

Quick start

Call DeepSeek Flash 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-flash",
    max_tokens=150,
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your prompt here"}]
)
# Cost: ~$0.000210 per call at standard rates
# Input:  $0.15/MTok
# Output: $0.60/MTok

How DeepSeek Flash compares on cost

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

Highest-quality affordable option: GPT 5.6 Luna at $0.000340/call (1.6x the cost, 91/100 quality). DeepSeek Flash is already the cheapest choice for categorization.

What drives categorization cost

Classification into a fixed taxonomy is token-efficient by construction: the taxonomy is the same on every call and the output is one label. Put the taxonomy in the cached prefix and the marginal cost per item approaches the cost of the item text alone. Model tier matters less here than in any other use case tracked.

For DeepSeek Flash specifically, that means output tokens cost 4.0x more than input, at $0.60 vs $0.15 per MTok. At this use case’s 800/150 token split, output accounts for 43% of the $0.000210 per-call cost.

DeepSeek Flash quality benchmarks for categorization

Benchmark data for categorization is pending for DeepSeek Flash. Test against your own evaluation suite before moving to production.

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

About DeepSeek Flash

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: $0.003/MTok input. No batch discount published. Not yet benchmarked, so never recommended.

Other models from DeepSeek

You can compare DeepSeek Flash 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