DeepSeek API Price Increase: Up to 12x, Peak Hours (2026)
DeepSeek implemented significant API pricing changes effective August 16, 2026 at 16:00 UTC, introducing a peak/off-peak billing model replacing previous flat rates. The most dramatic increase affected V4 Pro cache hits, which jumped 12.1x at peak ($0.003625 to $0.044 per million tokens).
Key Changes
Effective Date: 2026-08-16, 16:00 UTC (2026-08-17, 00:00 Beijing time)
Peak Hours (7 hours daily): 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–10:00 UTC
Billing Model: Off-peak rates are 50% of peak rates across all tiers
Pricing Comparison Table
| Tier | Old Flat | New Off-peak | New Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| V4 Flash cache hit | $0.0028 | $0.007 | $0.014 |
| V4 Flash cache miss | $0.14 | $0.22 | $0.44 |
| V4 Flash output | $0.28 | $0.66 | $1.32 |
| V4 Pro cache hit | $0.003625 | $0.022 | $0.044 |
| V4 Pro cache miss | $0.435 | $0.66 | $1.32 |
| V4 Pro output | $0.87 | $1.98 | $3.96 |
Price Increase Multipliers
| Tier | Off-peak vs Old | Peak vs Old |
|---|---|---|
| V4 Flash cache hit | 2.5x | 5.0x |
| V4 Flash cache miss | 1.6x | 3.1x |
| V4 Flash output | 2.4x | 4.7x |
| V4 Pro cache hit | 6.1x | 12.1x |
| V4 Pro cache miss | 1.5x | 3.0x |
| V4 Pro output | 2.3x | 4.6x |
Real-World Impact: Sample Monthly Bill
For a typical agent workload (300M input tokens at 90% cache hit rate, 20M output):
| Scenario | Cache Hits | Cache Misses | Output | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old flat rate | $0.76 | $4.20 | $5.60 | $10.56 |
| New, all off-peak | $1.89 | $6.60 | $13.20 | $21.69 |
| New, all peak | $3.78 | $13.20 | $26.40 | $43.38 |
Peak Hours by Time Zone (Aug 2026)
| Location | Peak Window 1 | Peak Window 2 | Workday Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing/Singapore (UTC+8) | 09:00–12:00 | 14:00–18:00 | 7 of 9 hours |
| Tokyo/Seoul (UTC+9) | 10:00–13:00 | 15:00–19:00 | 6 of 9 hours |
| India (UTC+5:30) | 06:30–09:30 | 11:30–15:30 | 4.5 of 9 hours |
| Berlin/Paris (UTC+2, CEST) | 03:00–06:00 | 08:00–12:00 | 3 of 9 hours |
| London (UTC+1, BST) | 02:00–05:00 | 07:00–11:00 | 2 of 9 hours |
| New York (UTC-4, EDT) | 21:00–00:00 prev | 02:00–06:00 | 0 of 9 hours |
| San Francisco (UTC-7, PDT) | 18:00–21:00 prev | 23:00–03:00 | 0 of 9 hours |
Third-Party Hosts Comparison
V4 Flash (on OpenRouter, 2026-08-17)
| Host | Input | Output | Cache Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepInfra | $0.08 | $0.18 | $0.016 |
| DigitalOcean | $0.08 | $0.252 | $0.0252 |
| GMICloud | $0.084 | $0.168 | $0.0168 |
| DeepSeek | $0.44 | $1.32 | $0.014 |
Finding: 26 of 28 third-party listings undercut DeepSeek's peak input rate.
Break-even analysis: At 94% cache hit rate off-peak, DeepInfra becomes cheaper; at 99.4% peak. Previously, this threshold was 77%.
V4 Pro
DeepSeek's off-peak rate ($0.66 input) undercuts all nine available third-party listings.
Historical Context
DeepSeek has adjusted pricing three times in eighteen months:
| Date | Change | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-02-26 | Off-peak discounts introduced (16:30–00:30 UTC) | Down |
| 2025-09-05 | New pricing, off-peak discounts ended | Up |
| 2026-08-16 | Peak/off-peak billing (off-peak = 50% of peak) | Up |
This represents the first instance where time-of-day pricing increased rates rather than offered discounts.
Why Cache Hits Increased Most
The previous cache hit rate was an outlier: V4 Flash hits at $0.0028 were 50x cheaper than a miss. That disproportionate pricing supported the cost model for agent loops with 90%+ cache hit rates. The new structure reflects market realignment, where caching remains valuable but no longer dominates billing.
Caching Still Viable?
Yes. A cache hit remains approximately 31x cheaper than a miss at peak ($0.014 vs $0.44 for Flash). However, this advantage narrowed from the previous 50x ratio. Output tokens now represent a larger portion of total costs.
Key Considerations
Timestamp Ambiguity: DeepSeek has not clarified whether requests billing during peak windows are determined by start time or completion time. Requests crossing 04:00 or 10:00 UTC boundaries represent an open question.
Off-Peak as Partial Relief: Off-peak rates represent a smaller increase, not a true discount. Even at off-peak, V4 Flash output costs $0.66 (2.4x the old flat $0.28).
No Grandfather Clause: Existing balances top up at new rates; no legacy pricing applies.
Gateway Strategy: Using an OpenAI-compatible API aggregator allows switching between providers via model string changes alone, avoiding lock-in to any single vendor's pricing schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the increase differ between V4 Flash and V4 Pro?
Yes substantially. Cache hit increases ranged from 5x (Flash) to 12.1x (Pro) at peak.
How does billing handle requests crossing peak boundaries?
Unknown. DeepSeek's documentation omits this; measure actual invoices for verification.
Are third-party hosts now cheaper?
For V4 Flash: nearly uniformly yes (26 of 28 endpoints). For V4 Pro: no — DeepSeek undercuts all current alternatives even at off-peak rates.
Is prompt caching still worthwhile?
Absolutely, though with diminished leverage. The economics shifted toward output token optimization.
Did previous balances retain old rates?
No documented grandfather provision exists. All consumption applies current pricing.
Originally published on ofox.ai/blog.
