DeepSeek V3
$0.257 per 1M input tokens and $1.03 per 1M output tokens · 164K context · tools, JSON, open weights.
Prices checked Oct 21, 2026 · tracked by LLM Cost Index since Oct 21, 2026
What DeepSeek V3 costs per month
Estimated monthly bill for typical workloads. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator.
| Workload | Per month |
|---|---|
| Customer chatbot 1,000 conversations a day, 8 turns each | $179 |
| Document Q&A (RAG) 500 questions a day over retrieved documents | $30.88 |
| Coding / tool-using agent 200 tasks a day, long tool-heavy contexts | $117 |
| Content generation 30 long articles a day | $3.01 |
| Classification / extraction 100,000 short items a day | $278 |
Price history
We started tracking DeepSeek V3 on Oct 21, 2026; the chart appears as soon as there is a second data point. See all recent price changes.
Where to run DeepSeek V3: 3 providers
DeepInfra is the cheapest at $0.256 input / $0.712 output per 1M tokens. Uptime is the average over the last 30 days as reported by OpenRouter; see provider reliability.
| Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Uptime | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepInfra | $0.256 | $0.712 | 164K | 80% | flex tier, fp4 |
| StreamLake | $0.257 | $1.03 | 128K | 98.3% | — |
| DeepInfra | $0.32 | $0.89 | 164K | 96.4% | fp4 |
Cheaper alternatives to DeepSeek V3
Models with the same tool calling, structured output for at least 20% less (3:1 input/output mix), most capable first.
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 5.5 Anthropic | $0.10 | $0.50 | 1M | visiontoolsreasoningJSON |
| GLM 5.3 Flash Z.ai | $0.041 | $0.12 | 1.05M | visiontoolsreasoningJSONopen weights |
| Ling 3.1 Flash inclusionAI | $0.075 | $0.225 | 262K | toolsreasoningJSON |
| GPT-6 Luna OpenAI | $0.10 | $0.50 | 1.05M | visiontoolsreasoningJSON |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash Xiaomi | $0.14 | $0.28 | 1.05M | visionaudiotoolsreasoningJSONopen weights |
How to pay less for DeepSeek V3
For a customer chatbot (1,000 conversations a day, 8 turns each) that costs $179 a month at list price without caching:
| Option | Per month | You save |
|---|---|---|
| Move to Claude Haiku 5.5 (similar capabilities) | $58.56 | $121 (67%) |
| Route to DeepInfra (flex tier) | $152 | $27.11 (15%) |
Other workloads: cut-your-bill tool for DeepSeek V3.
Specifications
| Model ID | deepseek/deepseek-chat |
| Input | text |
| Output | text |
| Tool calling | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes |
| Reasoning mode | No |
| Open weights | Yes — deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V3 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-07-31 |
| Released | Dec 26, 2024 |
FAQ
- How much does DeepSeek V3 cost?
- $0.257 per million input tokens and $1.03 per million output tokens. Prices as of Oct 21, 2026.
- What is the context window of DeepSeek V3?
- 164K tokens, with up to 16K output tokens per response.
- Does DeepSeek V3 support images, tools and structured output?
- Images as input: no. Tool calling: yes. Structured (JSON) output: yes. Reasoning mode: no.
- What are cheaper alternatives to DeepSeek V3?
- Models with the same key capabilities for at least 20% less include Claude Haiku 5.5 ($0.10 / $0.50), GLM 5.3 Flash ($0.041 / $0.12), Ling 3.1 Flash ($0.075 / $0.225).
More from DeepSeek: all DeepSeek models · how we collect prices