Guides · consumer · is deepseek free
Is DeepSeek free? The app, the API, and the desktop installer
“Free” is true for the chat app and false for the API. Mixing them up is how people paste a work document into a consumer app and then ask why the API bill exists.
The app
DeepSeek’s listing on the US App Store is “DeepSeek - AI Assistant”, seller named in Chinese as the Hangzhou company, copyright 2026. Google Play lists the same product, package com.deepseek.chat, and the listing we saw had been updated on 12 Oct 2026. Both store texts say the assistant is free.
Free does not mean private. The Czech warning and the safety guide cover why a government laptop should not install it. On a personal phone, the trade is the usual one: you are sending prompts to a PRC company in exchange for a chatbot that does not charge a subscription.
Desktop
The official download page, in the copy we fetched, announces DeepSeek Harness for desktop and offers a Windows download. We did not see a macOS button in that fetch. Treat a Mac disk image from anywhere else as unverified. The API does not need a desktop app.
The API is paid
There is no free token tier on the pricing page we read. You top up a balance. deepseek-flash (V4.1 Flash) is $0.30 per million input tokens on a cache miss at peak, and $1.20 per million output tokens. Off-peak is half. V4 Pro peak is $1.32 / $3.96. Cache hits are much cheaper than misses, which is why a coding tool that re-sends the same prefix looks affordable and a cold prompt does not.
| Model | Blended | vs Opus | vs Sol |
|---|---|---|---|
| deepseek-v4.1-flash | $0.198 | 98% cheaper | 95% cheaper |
| deepseek-v4-flash | $0.114 | 99% cheaper | 97% cheaper |
| deepseek-v4-pro | $1.19 | 85% cheaper | 70% cheaper |
The OpenRouter V4.1 Flash card matches the peak direct rate. The OpenRouter V4 Pro card does not match the direct peak or the direct off-peak rate. If you want DeepSeek’s price, use DeepSeek’s page.
What we would not do
We would not type a customer name, a private key, or a medical note into the free app. We would not follow a “DeepSeek APK” link. We would use the API key only on the base URL in the docs (https://api.deepseek.com or https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic).
More: is it safe?, get an API key, DeepSeek versus Claude.
Questions
Is the DeepSeek chat app free?
The official Apple and Google listings describe a free assistant. That is the consumer app, not an API allowance.
Is there an official Mac app?
The download page we read on 16 Oct 2026 offered a Windows build of DeepSeek Harness. We did not see a Mac installer in that same page text. Do not install a random 'DeepSeek for Mac' package from a search ad.
Sources
- DeepSeek on the Apple App Store, accessed 2026-10-16
- DeepSeek on Google Play, accessed 2026-10-16
- DeepSeek download page, accessed 2026-10-16
- DeepSeek API pricing, accessed 2026-10-16
- NÚKIB warning, accessed 2026-10-16