How to top up the DeepSeek API: payment, key and prices

If you build on an API from a country where cards from local banks get declined, DeepSeek looks like an easy case: the site opens and the docs are public. The wall is at the top-up page. This article walks the path in order, from the key to the price list to the payment step, and says plainly where the official sources go quiet.

How to get a DeepSeek API key

Keys are issued in the account area at platform.deepseek.com; the docs point to platform.deepseek.com/api_keys for creating one. Sign-in goes through email or a Google account, as the DeepSeek FAQ mentions, and in our earlier checks the platform did not block Russian IPs. DeepSeek publishes no list of unsupported countries that we could find, so if you are elsewhere, try the sign-up before you plan around it.

The API follows the OpenAI format, so switching an existing client usually means changing the base_url and the key. The official base URL is https://api.deepseek.com, and there is a second one, https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic, for clients that speak the Anthropic format. Endpoints and parameters are documented at api-docs.deepseek.com.

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(api_key="sk-...", base_url="https://api.deepseek.com")

reply = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="deepseek-flash",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)

What "free API" means

DeepSeek has no free tier with a permanent limit. The API runs on prepayment: you top up the balance and pay for tokens as you use them. Top-up balances do not expire, according to the DeepSeek FAQ. People often mix up the free chat at deepseek.com with the API. The chat is free in the browser, while API calls draw money from the account balance from the first request. What the chat gives you and what the API limits actually are is covered in DeepSeek for free: chat, API limits and service status.

Prices for deepseek-v4-pro and deepseek-flash

The current lineup is deepseek-v4-pro (DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813) for heavy tasks and deepseek-flash (DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017) for fast, cheap requests. Both have a 1M-token context window and a maximum output of 384K. The old IDs deepseek-v4-flash and deepseek-v4-flash-vision-exp are still accepted, but those models are retired, and their requests are served by V4.1 Flash at the Flash price.

Prices per 1M tokens split into peak and off-peak hours, and off-peak costs half as much. From the official pricing page, off-peak first, peak second:

Peak hours are 01:00 to 04:00 and 06:00 to 10:00 UTC, Monday to Friday, excluding Chinese public holidays. Everything else, weekends and Chinese holidays included, is off-peak. Convert those hours to your own time zone before you plan a batch job, and check the page again before you size a budget, because DeepSeek reserves the right to change prices.

The price list shows pay-as-you-go token prices, plus Search and Fetch billed per request ($0.75 per 1,000 successful requests each). We found no fixed-fee subscription plan of the kind some other Chinese providers sell.

How to top up the DeepSeek API balance

A top-up happens in the account area, on the Top Up page (platform.deepseek.com/top_up), and the result shows on the Billing page. The model is prepaid: you put money on the balance and spend it per token. According to the DeepSeek FAQ, top-up balances do not expire.

What the primary sources say about payment:

• The English platform FAQ. You can top up online via PayPal, bank card, Alipay or WeChat Pay. The answer names no countries and no card networks.
• The Chinese version of the same answer. It describes top-ups through Alipay and WeChat Pay after real-name identity verification, and says corporate bank transfer is open for now only to users registered with a +86 phone number. The English text does not mention these conditions.
• The terms of service. They provide for prepayment, and say top-up methods are whatever the platform website shows. Only the unspent remainder can be refunded, minus fees, and money already spent is not returned.
• A country list. DeepSeek publishes none. The terms only say that availability of the services in particular jurisdictions is not guaranteed.

None of these sources says a word about cards from Russian banks. So everything known about declines comes from user reports: the outcome depends on the issuing bank and on the method you pick on the Top Up page.

Why payment from restricted regions fails

There is no technical block: the site, the docs and key creation work without a VPN. The trouble is elsewhere in the payment chain. The DeepSeek FAQ says you can top up online with PayPal, a bank card, Alipay or WeChat Pay, and it does not name card networks or countries. Users report that cards from Russian banks, Mir included, are declined, and that a foreign-issued card is needed to top up. DeepSeek has made no official statement about this, but complaints about this step keep surfacing in Russian-language discussions. Whether your own card works depends on the issuing bank and your country, and we cannot test every combination.

That leaves three practical paths:

1. A card issued by a bank outside your country.
2. A virtual card from an intermediary service that charges a conversion fee.
3. A provider that accepts local payment directly.

The first two solve the problem once, but they add a fee and a dependency on an intermediary that can switch off at any time. The third removes the problem entirely, provided you do not need DeepSeek by name and simply need access to a strong model for real work. For how the same barrier looks with Anthropic, see paying for Claude in restricted regions.

DeepSeek through Claudexia: top up with local cards, SBP or crypto

DeepSeek is connected in Claudexia: the catalog has deepseek-v4-pro, deepseek-v4-flash, deepseek-v4.1-flash and deepseek-v4.1-flash-1017. A Claudexia balance is not linked to a DeepSeek balance: it is a separate account, and you need no account on platform.deepseek.com. Claude, GPT, Gemini and other models sit next to them, so one key covers cheap bulk requests and agentic coding alike.

How to top up and get a key:

1. Register with a login and password, or with Google, GitHub or Telegram. There is no email confirmation.
2. Top up from $1. Russian cards and SBP bank transfers go through YooKassa, SBP QR and Russian or foreign cards through Platega, and crypto through CryptoCloud, CryptoBot in Telegram or the 2328 service (USDT, BTC, ETH, TON and others).
3. Open the API Keys section and create a key in the sk_cdx_... format.
4. Put the key and the address into your client. The API works with the Anthropic SDK:

export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.claudexia.tech"
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk_cdx_YOUR_KEY"

DeepSeek prices in the public Claudexia catalog (Premium channel) on 10 November 2026, per 1M tokens:

For comparison, claude-sonnet-5 costs $0.52 / $1.98, claude-opus-5-5 $0.86 / $3.3 and gpt-6-sol $0.38 / $1.86. DeepSeek's own price list and the Claudexia catalog are separate, so compare the figures on the day you buy. Per token, the DeepSeek models in the catalog cost a fraction of Claude or GPT, so they suit large volumes of simple requests. For agentic coding, long project context and tasks where model reliability matters, Claude often earns back the price difference.

The full model list and current figures are on the models page and the pricing page.

FAQ

How do I get a DeepSeek API key from a restricted region?

Register at platform.deepseek.com and create a key under API keys. In our checks Russian IPs were not blocked, and we found no official list of unsupported countries. The difficulty is not at this step but at the top-up: some local bank cards are declined.

How do I top up the DeepSeek API?

In the account area, on the Top Up page. The English platform FAQ lists PayPal, bank card, Alipay and WeChat Pay, and the result shows on the Billing page. If your card is declined, the remaining options are a foreign-issued card, a virtual card from an intermediary, or a provider such as Claudexia that takes local cards, SBP and crypto.

Where can I buy a DeepSeek API key?

A DeepSeek key is created in the platform account area, and you pay for tokens after topping up the balance. If payment fails, a Claudexia key is created after registration and a top-up from $1, paid by local card, SBP or crypto, and it opens the same DeepSeek models.

How can I pay for the DeepSeek API from Russia or a neighbouring country?

DeepSeek's FAQ lists PayPal, bank cards, Alipay and WeChat Pay. There is no official way to pay with a Russian bank card, and users report declines. People use foreign-issued cards or intermediary services that top up the balance for a fee. DeepSeek publishes no single recommended method.

Can I use the DeepSeek API for free?

There is no permanent free tier for the API, only prepaid tokens. Only the web chat in the browser is free, and it is a separate product, not the API.

How much does deepseek-v4-pro cost per 1M tokens?

On the official pricing page, input on a cache miss is $0.66 to $1.32 and output is $1.98 to $3.96, depending on off-peak or peak hours. Check the exact figures and any changes at api-docs.deepseek.com.

What if I cannot pay DeepSeek at all?

Look at a provider that takes local payment directly. If the task does not require DeepSeek by name and you just need a strong model through an API, that closes the problem without intermediaries and conversion fees.