Is DeepSeek OpenAI-compatible?

Yes — base URL https://api.deepseek.com/v1.

What's the difference between deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner?

Reasoner exposes chain-of-thought tokens and is priced higher. Chat is the general-purpose model.

Where is DeepSeek hosted?

China-based infrastructure. Latency from outside Asia is noticeably higher.

Is there a free tier?

Not in the standard sense — accounts need a positive balance to issue keys, but minimum top-up is small.

Can I use OpenAI's Python SDK with DeepSeek?

Yes, just swap base_url and api_key.

Are there content policy differences?

Yes, DeepSeek has its own content moderation. Some prompts that pass on US providers may be filtered.

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Validate a DeepSeek API key, list DeepSeek-Chat / Coder / Reasoner models, and benchmark latency.

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DeepSeek

What this key does

DeepSeek's API is OpenAI-compatible. The current model list includes deepseek-chat (general) and deepseek-reasoner (chain-of-thought). Pricing is aggressively cheap for the capability tier.

How to get a DeepSeek API key

Sign in at platform.deepseek.com.
Top up the account (DeepSeek requires a positive balance to issue keys).
Create an API key and paste it here.

Common errors and fixes

401 Unauthorized: Key is invalid, revoked, or pasted with extra whitespace. Generate a new key from the provider console and try again.
403 Forbidden: Key is valid but lacks permission for this resource. Check project / org / workspace scope, or that billing is set up for this key.
429 Too Many Requests: You hit the per-minute or per-day rate limit. Wait a moment and retry, or upgrade your tier.
404 Not Found: The endpoint or model id changed. Check the provider docs for the current path and model identifier.
5xx: The provider is having issues. Check their status page before assuming the bug is yours.

Security best practices

Store keys in an env var or secret manager — never commit them to a repo, even a private one.
Restrict scope: prefer per-project or per-deployment keys over a single root key shared across services.
Rotate on a schedule (90 days is a sane default) and immediately on suspected leak.
Audit usage in the provider console after rotation to confirm the old key has zero traffic.
Set per-key spend limits where the provider supports them, so a leaked key has a bounded blast radius.

Pricing at a glance

DeepSeek is among the cheapest providers in the reasoning-class lane. Off-peak pricing offers an additional discount for batch-style workloads.

FAQ

Is DeepSeek OpenAI-compatible?: Yes — base URL https://api.deepseek.com/v1.
What's the difference between deepseek-chat and deepseek-reasoner?: Reasoner exposes chain-of-thought tokens and is priced higher. Chat is the general-purpose model.
Where is DeepSeek hosted?: China-based infrastructure. Latency from outside Asia is noticeably higher.
Is there a free tier?: Not in the standard sense — accounts need a positive balance to issue keys, but minimum top-up is small.
Can I use OpenAI's Python SDK with DeepSeek?: Yes, just swap base_url and api_key.
Are there content policy differences?: Yes, DeepSeek has its own content moderation. Some prompts that pass on US providers may be filtered.

What this key does

How to get a DeepSeek API key

Common errors and fixes

Security best practices

Pricing at a glance

FAQ

Test other providers

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